Here We Go Again
by bandobaby101
Summary: Ulrich left the gang, fed up with his life there. Three years later, he returns with his new girlfriend, and there's something peculiar about her. In fact, things just keep getting weirder the longer they're there.
1. Chapter 1

* * *

Ulrich stood juggling a soccer ball around in the rain. He was waiting for his parents to pick him up from Kadic Academy, and they were late. 'Typical,' he thought. 'Its something important to me and they have something better to do.' Ulrich's brief distraction earned him a bop on the head with his muddy soccer ball. It bounced of his head and rolled over to where his duffel bags were waiting. With a sigh of irritation, Ulrich dug into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a much worn letter. He looked down at the familiar words, memorized after the constant readings in disbelief. 

_Dear Mr. Sterns,_

_After much consideration, we have decided to accept your application to North Ridge Sports Academy for the spring session. Enclosed are the following scholarships you are eligible for. Please respond by January 28 to accept your spot._

_Sincerely,_

_Ms. Helga Sparewater, Principal_

Ulrich refolded the letter again and shoved it into the pocket of his cargo pants. His parents weren't too thrilled about buying him a plane ticket to Illinois, but they accepted his decision to continue his education at a place that would help him succeed his at his goals. His friends weren't too thrilled about his decision.

_Flashback_

_"What about Xana!" Jeremie screamed when Ulrich told them the news._

Like I care, _Ulrich thought. Out loud, though, he said, "Xana hasn't attacked in three weeks. THREE WEEKS. I'm sick of waiting around to see what happens. I need a break from this 'saving the world' bull shit we've been dealing with for the past three years! Its enough to drive a guy insane, and I'm going insane!"_

_"Ulrich," Aelita said quietly, "we need your help. We need all the help we can possibly get. Xana's getting stronger each minute. I don't like the quiet anymore than you do, but that only means when Xana does attack its going to be drastic."_

_"Get somebody else to help, then," Ulrich said, fuming. He looked around at all of them again. Odd was sitting there looking like he'd been slapped; Yumi was staring out the window with a completely shocked look on her face and tears in her eyes; Jeremie was fuming; Aelita was sitting on the bed calmly, her hands folded in her lap, waiting for Ulrich's decision. "I'm done fighting Xana. Everythings arranged. I'm leaving tomorrow."_

_With that, he walked out the door. He could have sworn he heard Odd say, "Einstein, are you SURE there isn't an attack happening right now," in a meek voice, but he honestly didn't care._

Present

Hearing a horn honk, Ulrich looked up. There sat a brand new Cadillac, and in the driver's seat sat his father. Sighing with disgust, Ulrich grabbed his bags and prepared himself for a new life.


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

* * *

3 months later

"Hey. Hey, Ulrich! You listening to me?"

"Uh, what?" Ulrich said, shaking his head. He cast one look across the cafeteria again and turned his attention to his new best friend, Johnny Powers.

"I was asking if you're ready for the big game Sunday," Johnny said, looking at the ceiling in exasperation. "Apparently, you're not. Who were you looking at?" Johnny was suddenly very interested.

"No one," Ulrich said hastily. His eyes, however, betrayed him, looking again across the cafeteria. Johnny followed them.

"Oh, no. Ulrich! I thought we talked about this already!" Johnny sighed, burying his blond head in his hands. "Kailey Hasz is completely off-limits. She's dating Roger Davis, the swimming star, remember?" Looking up at his friend, he added, "And Roger won't forgive you if you take his two year girlfriend away from him. He's not big, but he's wickedly smart and he'll get you back subtly."

"I wasn't looking at her," Ulrich lied. Johnny shot him a look. "I was admiring her new dye job, that's all, I swear." Johnny looked at him, pondering his friend.

"I guess if Roger catches you looking at her that would slide," Johnny said, twirling his spoon thoughtfully between his fingers. "It's not like her hairs a common color now, is it." Ulrich nodded, tossing Kailey a look again. Her hair, once the color of caramel, was now a pale shade of violet with ice blue highlights.

"I can't decide if its blue or purple," Ulrich said, turning his head a bit to watch the light shimmer across Kailey's ponytail.

"Maybe its both," Johnny said with a shrug, returning to his lunch. "You know Kailey's just weird like that. You weren't here last year, but when she started her hair was such a brilliant red I thought her head was on fire."

Ulrich continued to look at her, trying to imagine her with fire red hair. Unsuccessful, he looked at his tray. His pudding was gone. "Johnny," he said, "where did my pudding go?"

"Why? Did you want it?" Johnny teased, taking the pudding out of his bag. Ulrich shook his head while he accepted his pudding, thinking how much Johnny reminded him of Odd.

'Except Odd would have eaten it,' Ulrich thought, digging a spoon into the butterscotch pudding cup with unwonted anger.

"Whoa, easy there, Ulrich," Johnny said, looking up from the history notes he had just pulled out of his bag, "what did that pudding do to you?"

"Nothing," Ulrich muttered. "Just, er, stressed, I guess. Not looking forward to the history test much."

"Tell me about it," Johnny said, accepting his friends explanation. Ulrich sighed with relief. He was trying to keep his life in France separate from his new life in America, but it was always popping up in his mind unexpectedly. He just nodded while Johnny ranted on about Ms. Karnes and her idea of teaching. When the bell rang, they gathered up their bags and headed towards the dreaded history test.


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

* * *

Sitting in his third row seat of his history class, Ulrich stared down at the final question: 

**In your opinion, what had the greatest impact on the cause of the Great Depression?**

It was an easy enough question. In fact, the whole test had been easy. It asked a bunch of opinion questions and let you write or vent about the topic as much as possible. Yet, Ulrich was having a hard time answering it. Barely twenty minutes ago, when he looked up to check the time before looking at the last question, he saw Kailey look over her shoulder. He couldn't suppress giving her a smile and a small wave, and, to his absolute surprise, she smiled back. Now, his mind was swimming with thoughts of Kailey Hasz, and anything about the Depression has taken second row seats.

He glanced up at the clock, hoping to catch sight of Kailey looking at him again. Instead, he saw her stand up and leave the room. He looked at the door, but he didn't see Roger waiting for her. Quickly, he scribbled something about credit and the stupidness of people and turned it upside down. Grabbing his bag, he walked as fast as he could to the door, hoping to get a word with Kailey.

Stepping into the hall, his heart sank. Roger was standing with Kailey. Turning to go outside, he stopped suddenly. Roger's voice was raising above the din of the hall.

"What the hell do you mean?" Roger yelled at her. Ulrich turned. Roger looked furious. He was also looking at Kailey with a stunned disbelief in his face.

"I mean what I said," Kailey said calmly. By know the whole hallway was quiet and watching the long term couple. "You pay barely any attention to me and buy cheap gifts. I'm through putting up with it."

"Wait," Roger said, "you're breaking up with me?" He sounded so dejected that Ulrich half expected Kailey to say she was joking.

"Yes," Kailey said, turning her back on him, "we're through, Roger." With that, she turned and walked right past Ulrich to the courtyard. Ulrich gave her two minutes, watching Roger the whole time. He just stood there in complete shock while his swimming buddies stood around him, trying to cheer him up. He turned around when he saw Roger shake his head at something, and Ulrich followed Kailey outside.

He saw her sitting on a bench under the willow tree. She didn't look upset; she was staring at the pond and twirling a piece of her ponytail on her finger. Gathering up his courage, Ulrich walked over to her.

"Hey," he said, pushing aside some of the willow's hanging branches. Kailey looked up.

"Hey," she said. She gestured at the bench next to her, "Have a seat." Ulrich looked around. When he looked at Kailey again, she was smiling. "Don't worry," she said, "Roger won't care. I just broke up with him. I'm surprised the whole school doesn't know yet." Ulrich smiled.

"I heard you break up with him," Ulrich said, sitting next to her. "I'm sorry it didn't work out."

"I'm not," Kailey said. She shifted so her whole attention was focussed on Ulrich. "He was such a jerk. He treated me like a glass statue. Some girls might like that, but I sure the hell don't." Ulrich nodded. He couldn't believe his luck. He was staring into her perfect pale green eyes, so perfectly framed with long, full, black eyelashes. He didn't know how long he sat there looking at her, but, when he finally looked at his watch, he realized he had five minutes to get to his soccer practice.

Jumping to his feet, he said, "Kailey, I'm so sorry, but I have to go to practice or Coach will freak." He turned to leave the willow tree, but stopped when he heard, "Ulrich, wait a second." He turned. Kailey stood up.

"I hope you'll come to my fencing meet tomorrow," she said. "Against South Spring. They're tough." Ulrich nodded. Kailey smiled at him. "Well, if you're going to be late, then I'm definitly going to be late," she said. "See you around." She quickly stood up on her tiptoes and gave Ulrich a kiss on the cheek. She smiled again, and left before he could say anything. Ulrich stood there, shocked at what happened, before he remembered he was suppossed to be at soccer practice. Cursing at himself, he dashed to the field.


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

**For all of you diehard Ulrich+Yumi fans, Ulrich is trying to forget his life in France right now. I'm sorry, but he's completely fed up with everything related to Xana. However, this does not mean that any relationship he has at his new school is permanent. I'm playing with the idea as I go. Its possible Yumi and Ulrich will get back together, or its possible that Yumi has moved on and Ulrich doesn't care anymore. I just don't know yet.**

* * *

3 years later

Ulrich was sitting on a blanket on his favorite grassy knoll with his knees drawn to his chest. He had been sitting there for ten minutes now, waiting. However, while most people would have given up by now and left, he continued to wait. He was watching the clouds float aimlessly across the clear blue sky, daydreaming. The past few days have been a whirlwind of activity. This was the first time in a long time that he could just relax.

He pushed himself up when he heard the gravel drive crunch behind him. Turning around, he saw the purple-blue hair of his long term girlfriend emerge from her blue Ford Mustang. He stood up, smiling. He has only been able to talk to her once over the past couple of days. It felt good to actually see her again. He stood up and began to walk towards her.

"Hey, girl," Ulrich said, opening his arms wide to give her a hug. "I thought you forgot I existed."

Kailey looked up from what she was doing. Smiling, she walked over to him and gave him a kiss. "Nope," she said, "just been really busy. What about you? Fingers broken?"

Ulrich laughed. "I wished," he said. "It would have saved me from signing paperwork to play on team USA fpr the Olympics." He hooked his arm around her waist and led her to his blanket. "How's your demo going?"

Kailey winced. "Slow," she said, sitting down. "I think they're trying to kill me. They have me sing the same song a million times until I want to scream." Ulrich nodded. Kailey couldn't do repetition. When she fenced on the school's team, she changed what she did every match, catching her opponents completely off guard. Kailey was herself, plain and simple. That's why he loved her. He was leaning down to give her a kiss when his cell phone rang. Sighing, he sat back up. Kailey laughed. "Life can't let us be for ten seconds, can it?" she said. Leaning over, she kissed him on the cheek and laid down, hooking her hands behind her head.

Ulrich smiled and took his phone out. He froze. Across the screen was one name he hadn't seen in years. He had forgotten he had this number in his phone still. Aelita was calling him.


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

**Thanks for all the reviews! Kioshie, I try to write, write, write, but I don't have that much time. Between school, homework, band, and clubs, I'm lucky I've been updating as often as I have.**

* * *

Ulrich stared at the screen in shock. None of his old friends have so much as text messaged him in three years. He just held his phone while it rang, confused. Aelita was the only one who accepted his decision. 

_Flashback_

_Ulrich was bent over his drawers, pulling everything out of them. He was still fuming. He couldn't believe that his friends wouldn't accept his decision. He heard a knock on his door, but he ignored it. _Its probably Sissi_, he thought, but that didn't improve his mood._

_"Ulrich," a voice said. He looked up. There stood Aelita, as calm now as she was when he announced his news to his friends. "Ulrich," she said again, "do you need help packing?" He just looked at her, then nodded. If he could get everything done before Odd came back, it might help. He leaned back into the drawer and pulled out a stack of shirts. Turning around, he saw Aelita start folding his clothes and setting them in his duffel bag. Smiling, he put his shirts on the bed and continued to empty his drawers._

_They worked in silence, and Ulrich couldn't believe it when they finished packing. Everything he owned had been packed neatly into his two duffel bags. He turned to Aelita, who was sitting on the bed._

_"Thanks, Aelita," Ulrich said, stretching. "I thought you'd try to sabotage my packing or something."_

_Aelita smiled. "Your mind's made up," Aelita said, shifting on the bed and motioning to a spot next to her. Taking the hint, Ulrich sat down. "Odd was so surprised by what you said that he made Jeremie run a thourough scan of all sectors. He was so disappointed when he found out Xana wasn't attacking, and this was truly your own decision, that he skipped lunch and went for a walk," she continued, looking at her hands. "Yumi's upset. She was still looking out the window when I left. Jeremie's furious. He has forbidden any contact with you. If he finds out I came to help you, I might very well be banished from the group." Ulrich smiled wryly at this._

_Aelita sighed. "Is life really that difficult for you right now, Ulrich?" she said, looking into his eyes. "Are you really sure you just want to give all of this up for a new school in a different country?"_

_Ulrich looked away from Aelita and toward his packed bags. "I never intended to stay at Kadic this long," he whispered. "I've wanted to go to North Ridge ever since I started playing soccer. It has the best reputation throughout the world for sports. But, before I sent in an application, I got dragged into this whole Xana and Lyoko situation. I thought it would be something I could get out of easily, but it hasn't." He stopped, and looked Aelita in the eyes again._

_"I don't regret getting tangled in this mess," he said. "I never would have found out so much about myself if I had stayed out. Its just that," he paused, twisting his hands around. Finally, with a sigh, he said, "I'm tired. I want to go back to life the way I had it planned before Lyoko. I want life to make sense again." __He was staring at his hands now. He felt hot tears slide down his face. He felt a hand settle on his shoulders. He didn't want to look up. He was afraid he'd see disgust in Aelita's eyes._

_"Ever since I first met you," Aelita whispered, "I knew you didn't belong here. I knew you weren't exactly happy." He looked at her. In her eyes were understanding. "I always wanted to help you."_

_"Thanks, Aelita," Ulrich said._

_End Flashback_

Flipping his phone open, Ulrich swallowed hard and said, "Hello?"

"Ulrich," Aelita's voice was a little more care worn and tired, but it was exactly like he remembered it. "We need your help. Xana has become too dangerous."


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

* * *

Ulrich stood there. Everything his life had become in the past three years came to a screeching halt. He was once again standing in the factory, realizing for the first time how truly dangerous Xana could be. 

And he didn't like it.

He was so sure that he had escaped France, his old life, and Lyoko. Apparently not. He looked over at Kailey. She just lay on the hill, soaking up the sun. He had known his life had changed completely when he met her. He just never realized how much. He dreaded leaving America. He didn't want to risk losing his life to a computer virus.

"Ulrich?" Aelita's voice said, confused. "Are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," he said, still staring at Kailey. "I thought you said you were going to shut him down?"

"We tried," Aelita said. "We tried as hard as we could. I thought we had shut him down a year ago, but he's back now."

Ulrich sighed. He really didn't need this now. His life was happy, he enjoyed life after high school, such as it was so far. He studied the way Kailey's neck curved, her porcelain skin shining in the sun. What would happen if he left? Would she want to come with him, or stay in America and work on her record deal? What would happen to his deal if he left?

But he couldn't leave them in this fix. He knew how dangerous Xana could be, he knew what he was leaving his old friends to if he decided to duck out.

"Ulrich?" Aelita said. "Are you still there?"

He turned away from Kailey. "I need time to think, Aelita," he whispered. "I need time to decide if I want to uproot my life again. I'll call you back when I make my decision."

"I understand," Aelita said. "Just, be quick about it."

"Of course," Ulrich said, turning to look at Kailey again. He was about to hang up when he heard a whisper at the other end of the line. "Sorry, Aelita, didn't quite catch that. What did you say?"

"I said to hurry," Aelita said. "We need to deactivate the most recent tower before Odd dies." She hung up, leaving Ulrich to stare in shock and horror at the now blank screen of his phone.


	7. Chapter 7

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

* * *

He didn't know how long he sat there, Aelita's words echoing in his head. _Before Odd dies._ Odd, his old best friend, Odd the clown, Odd the daredevil. He was dying. He just stared at his phone, denying Aelita's last sentence. It couldn't be happening. Odd couldn't be dying. 

"Ulrich," Kailey said, laying her long fingered hand with its sea foam green nailpolish on his shoulder. Ulrich jumped. He had temporarily forgotten that she was there with him. "Who was that?"

He knew he couldn't hide it from her. "An old friend from France." He just didn't know how to break it to her. "They want me to head back to help them with something."

"With what?" Kailey asked, sliding her arms around Ulrich's neck. He wanted to tell her. He just couldn't think of how to say it.

"One of my friends," Ulrich began, somewhat hesitantly, "he's, well, he's ill." He hated lying to her. It just felt wrong. They've been together for three years now, and he's always been honest with her. Not completely honest, but Kailey understood that he'd tell her all about his life in France when he was ready. He wasn't ready yet, and it was making him lie.

"Is he seriously ill?" Kailey asked, concerned.

"I think so," Ulrich said. "Aelita said he might die." Kailey pursed her lips together, thinking.

"Well, then," she said, turning her face to the sun, "there's only one thing you can do, then. You need to go help your friend."

Ulrich looked at Kailey. No questions, no "are you sures?" Just complete, total belief that Ulrich's friend was ill and needed help. She made his decision seem so easy.

"I'll come with," Kailey said, looking back at Ulrich. "Maybe I can do something."

"What about your record deal?" Ulrich asked. He didn't want her involved in Lyoko. He detested the idea that she could be used against him. He wouldn't put it past Xana to do that.

"It can wait," Kailey said, sitting up. "A vacation sounds really good to me right now. Especially France. It will feel so good to be back on the European mainland. Maybe we can hop over to Britain afterwards, before we come back. You can meet my aunt and uncle!" Her face brightened.

Ulrich smiled. That's why he loved Kailey. Always optimistic. "We'll see," he said. "I need to talk it over with my agent."

Kailey smiled. "He'll say yes, I know it."


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

**Thanks for all the reviews, folks. With school and life going down the road to insanity right now, it helps keep me on track knowing people are waiting for a story to read. Keep reviewing!!! I feel like its keeping me sane.**

* * *

Ulrich jerked awake. Blinking his eyes, he looked around in confusion. This was not his room. He looked to his right. There sat Kailey, looking at him with her intense gaze. 'That's right,' Ulrich thought. 'I'm on my way to France with my girlfriend to fight something I thought I escaped years ago.' 

"Hey, sleepy head," Kailey said, grabbing his hand. "The flight attendant would appreciate it if you put your seat in an upright position. We're almost there." Ulrich smiled.

When he turned to look out the window, he began to frown. He didn't really want to be there, but he had no choice in the situation. He knew Xana's capabilities, he couldn't just leave his friends to that.

"Hey," Kailey said, kissing his cheek. "You're thinking too much. Odd will be fine."

'I hope so,' Ulrich thought. 'I sincerely hope so.' Outloud, however, he said, "I know. Its just, I haven't really talked to any of them in three years. You know how awkward that will be?" He turned to Kailey. "I don't think anyone but Aelita has forgiven me for the stunt I pulled the day before I left. I--Crap! I forgot to phone Aelita and tell her we were comimg!" He began fumbling in his pocket for his cell phone.

"Easy there, hot shot," Kailey said, nimbly pulling the phone out of his hand. "You can call Aelita when we're actually on the ground." She slipped Ulrich's phone into her pocket. "Besides, it won't kill us to take a cab." She smiled at him, and Ulrich smiled back. He was relieved that Kailey insisted on coming with him. She was such a laid back, relaxed person, easy to talk to, easy to be with. As tense as he was right now, it was a relief to have her with him.

"Sorry," he said, massaging his neck. "I guess I'm still shocked that Odd is ill. It never occured to me that I'd be flying to my friend's potential deathbed."

"Don't talk like that," Kailey said. "He'll be fine. From what you've told me about him, he's a fighter. He'll get better." Ulrich smiled at Kailey. His heart was filled with so much gratitude that Kailey was an eternal optimist. He couldn't chose a better person to be with in this situation. Leaning over, he kissed her gently.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Standing outside the airport trying to find a cab that wasn't already reserved wasn't the easiest thing to do, but, eventually, Ulrich and Kailey managed to slide into a cab with their bags neatly packed in the trunk. Kailey finally gave Ulrich his phone back, and, having called Aelita, they were heading to her apartment.

Ulrich looked out the window, wondering how much he should tell Kailey. He knew that she wouldn't remember what he told her, but he felt she needed to know more of the whole truth. He wasn't sure how to mention the subject, however, or what it would do to their relationship since they've always been completely honest with each other.

"Ulrich, you're lost to me again," Kailey said, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Come back, please."

Ulrich looked at her. Her eyes were closed; she looked so peaceful. He didn't want to ruin that. Kissing her, he whispered, "I'll never leave you."

The rest of the ride passed in silence, Kailey's head resting on Ulrich's shoulder and Ulrich thinking about what he was going to tell her about Lyoko. He knew he had to tell her something. This whole situation was too big not to. He was saved from saying anything yet by the cab pulling up to Aelita's building.

The first thing he saw was Aelita's pink head bobbing in the doorway. Smiling, Ulrich shook Kailey a bit. "There's Aelita," he whispered. "The only one to accept my decision." He felt Kailey sit up.

"I like her hair," Kailey said. Ulrich smiled. "Its too bright for me, though. I'd look ill or something." She was stretching, unrolling herself from the ball she had somehow got into, when the cabbie opened the door for them.

"Ulrich!" Aelita called, walking down the pathway. "Its good to see you again. How are you?"

"I'm fine, Aelita," Ulrich said, getting out of the cab. "Trip was a little long, but I'm good." He felt Kailey shooting him her Look from the cab. She knew he wasn't good, but she wouldn't say anything in front of Aelita. Grinning, Ulrich moved to the side. "Aelita, let me introduce you to my girlfriend, Kailey Hasz," he said, helping Kailey out of the cab. "Kailey, this is Aelita."

"Nice to meet you," Aelita said, shaking Kailey's hand. "I don't know how much Ulrich told you about this situation, but any help you can offer is greatly appreciated."

Kailey smiled. "I'm glad I could help," she said. "Ulrich wanted me to stay in America and work on my record deal, but I needed a break as much as him."

"A record deal?" Aelita said, interested. She took Kailey's arm and started steering her to the apartment, leaving Ulrich to get the bags. "Tell me about it. What music do you sing?"

Ulrich shook his head and picked up his and Kailey's bags. Walking towards the apartment, he continued to wonder how much was too much to tell Kailey. He was fumbling with the main door when he heard an ear piercing scream from above. Dropping the bags, he tore into the building and up the stairs. Stopping on the third landing, he listened for more sound. He heard nothing. Heart racing, he started walking up the stairs again. He was hoping it was nothing, that he imagined it.

He was on the fifth landing when he saw a familiar form sprawled across the stairs. His heart stopped as he rushed over to Kailey, praying that she was alive. 'Its my fault if she's hurt,' he thought. 'I let her come with me.' Dropping to his knees, he pulled her on his lap. Her eyelids twitched, and Ulrich breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, Kailey's eyes shot open. "Where's Aelita?" she said, trying to sit up. Ulrich felt his blood go cold as he helped her.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "Kailey, what happened?"

Looking him straight in the eyes, Kailey said, "I don't know. We were walking when some guy walked out of that room. He pushed me down the stairs."

Ulrich swallowed. He had a feeling he knew what was going on, but he had to check. "Was there anything weird about him? Anything at all?"

Kailey closed her eyes, trying to remember the details. "His eyes were weird," she finally said. "There was some sort of design. Like a bullseye." She opened her eyes again. "Ulrich, what's really going on?" she said. Her mouth was set in a firm line.

Ulrich sighed. "Its a long story, Kailey," he said, looking at his hands. "It starts before I met you. Its what I didn't want to talk about."

Kailey put her hand on his. "I need to know," she said. "I like Aelita. I want to help her, and your friend Odd, but I need to know the truth."

Ulrich nodded, face grim. "I'll tell you," he said, "but we should find a hotel first." Nodding, they stood up and walked down the stairs.


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

**Hey all, sorry its taking so long to update between chapters, but my life just got a little more crazy. Its calmed down a bit, but its still crazy. The next few weeks are going to be really insane, as I'm trying to prepare for Homecoming, so if I don't update before October 13, I'm so terribly sorry. So, yeah, let's continue, shall we?**

* * *

Ulrich put his bags on one of the beds. He didn't want to believe it, but there was no denying that Xana had kidnapped Aelita. His only link to the rest of his friends was gone; he'd have to face Yumi and Jeremie on his own. 'Not exactly on my own,' he thought, looking over his shoulder. Kailey was sitting on the other bed, watching him with her hawk-like stare. 'Time to face the music,' Ulrich thought. 

He turned and walked over to Kailey. "What do you want to know?" he asked. He already knew that he was going to tell her everything, but he needed a place to start.

Kailey cocked her head and continued to stare. "What does that symbol mean?" she finally asked. "The bullseye in his eyes, what did that mean?" Ulrich nodded, seating himself Indian-style on the bed across from Kailey.

"That symbol means Xana," Ulrich said, looking once again at his hands. "Xana is the cause of this mess." He looked up at Kailey. "Xana's a computer virus in a program called Lyoko. Its a real powerful virus with the intention of taking over the world. My friends and I were the only ones able to stop it. I guess we still are."

He turned his attention to the wall. "When I arrived at Kadic originally, I intended it only to be a rest stop before I continued on to North Ridge. I didn't intend to become friends with my Odd or Jeremie or Yumi. I tried to keep to myself." He felt a hand on his arm. Turning, he saw Kailey looking at him. Ulrich tried to smile, but failed. He never realized before how much of an impact his years at Kadic had on him.

He spread his arms apart, kind of a gesture of confusion, kind of a gesture of "that's life." Kailey interpreted it her own way. She eased herself into his lap, laying her head on his chest and wrapping his arms around her waist. "How did you find Lyoko?" she murmured, eyes half closed.

"It was Odd's stupid dog," Ulrich said, remembering with a shudder that day. "Odd had a dog called Kiwi that lived in the room with us. He got out one day, and Odd asked me, Jeremie, and Yumi to help find him before Jim did. We stumbled across the factory purely by accident, and Jeremie found out how the supercomputer worked. That's when we met Aelita." He leaned his chin against Kailey's head, breathing in the smell of her lavender shampoo.

"Aelita was the daughter of the man who created Xana and Lyoko," Ulrich continued, his voice partially muffled by Kailey's hair. "Franz Hopper created Xana to help humanity, but it broke away from its initial programing. Franz transferred himself and Aelita into Lyoko to control Xana. I'm not sure what happened to Franz, but Aelita became a sort of guardian. Jeremie became obsessed with trying to virtualize her."

"Obviously, he succeeded," Kailey said. "Otherwise I wouldn't have met her."

Ulrich grimaced at the implied comment within her words. "I was trying to protect you," he said. "Xana can take control of anything. We can return to the past, you won't remember anything, but it doesn't work if you die."

"That's what you need to do," Kailey said. "Go back in time to before Odd was ill and warn him."

"He's not ill," Ulrich said hesitantly. Kailey turned to look at him. "Odd was injured fighting Xana on the real world. We can't go back in time until Xana's most recent tower is deactivated, but Jeremie can't find it. Now, without Aelita, I don't think we can deactivate the tower." Kailey stared at him for a few seconds.

"Sounds like a giant video game to me," she said coolly.

"It kinda is," Ulrich said, heart dropping. He felt like he was losing Kailey, and he didn't like it. "Look, Kailey, I know this is a lot to digest, but if you let me get ahold of Jeremie, I can show you the actual factory."

"I don't know, Ulrich," Kailey said, standing up. "I need time to think about this. It sounds so surreal and, I don't know, childish." She looked up from putting her shoes back on. "I'm going for a walk. See you later."

Ulrich's heart sank as he watched Kailey walk through the door. She hadn't believed him, and he felt that he had damaged their relationship in some way by telling her the truth. He seriously hoped she wouldn't go to the police. That would make the job a whole lot harder.


	10. Chapter 10

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

**I know I said I might or might not post before October 13 because of Homecoming, but my teacher's have been really lenient with the homework (I have homework for the first time in a week) and I've sent several days in the computer labs at my school for several classes bored to tears so I worked on my stories. Enjoy!!!!**

* * *

He didn't know how long he sat there, staring at the door Kailey had exited, but he knew he sat there too long. He stood up, looking at the clock. It was almost four. Sighing, he grabbed the his key to the room and left, intending to clear his mind. 

He didn't pay attention to where his feet were taking him, but he eventually found himself in front of the gates of Kadic Academy. He stood outside the gate, staring at the grounds that he ran across after Xana's creatures numerous times. He just watched as students milled around various places, remembering the Xana free times with his friends. Sighing, he turned to walk on, intending to walk to the factory and see if Jeremie was possibly there.

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He stood in front of the elevator, wondering if he should take that or use the back entrance. Either way, he knew he would most likely get an icy reception, so he decided to risk it and use the elevator. He entered, pressing the button, and braced himself for the torrent of what he would get.

Feeling the elevator jerk to a halt, Ulrich cringed as the door slid open. He was waiting for the barrage of comments, but they never came. Instead, he heard shallow, ragged breathing, like somebody had been crying. He stepped into the room, looking around for the source. Hunched over the keyboard was Jeremie, his eyes red and puffy. Ulrich paused, wondering what he should do. Briefly, he wondered where Yumi was, but then he remembered Odd. She was probably with him right now.

"Jeremie," he said, voice tense, "what happened?"

Jeremie looked up, and Ulrich cringed, expecting yelling or accusations. Instead, Jeremie responded, "Everything's doomed. Aelita's been captured, I can't figure out how to deactivate a tower without risking somebody, and Odd is going to die soon." Ulrich nodded, chewing his lip.

"I know about Aelita and Odd," he finally said.

"How?" Jeremie said, turning to face Ulrich for the first time. "How can you possibly know what's been going on with Lyoko? You left, remember?" Ulrich winced at the accusation in Jeremie's voice. He knew he deserved that, but it still hurt.

"Aelita called me two days ago," Ulrich said. "She said you needed help." He paused, wondering how much he should say about Kailey. Shrugging, he decided most of the truth was best. "My girlfriend and I flew in. Kailey needed a vacation, and I needed somebody with a calm head. Aelita was showing Kailey to her apartment when she got attacked."

"Where's this Kailey?" Jeremie asked, cautious and curious. "What did you tell her about the attack?"

"She went for a walk," Ulrich said. Wincing, he added, "I told her most of the basics." He stood, waiting for the yelling, the mention of old promises, but it never came.

"We may need her help," Jeremie said, standing. "I hate to say this, but with Odd out of commission and Yumi being completely unreliable right now, we need the extra help. We need to make a computer program for her, but it shouldn't take long. Can you call her and have her meet us here now?"

"I don't think so," Ulrich said, partially relieved that Jeremie was taking it so well. "She went for a walk because she couldn't believe what I had told her. She thinks it's just a giant video game with no effect on the overall world."

Jeremie slumped back into his seat. "She has to believe," he whispered. "We need help."

Ulrich walked over to his friend. "I'll talk to her tonight at the hotel," he said, crouching next to Jeremie. "In the short time she knew Aelita, she liked her. If I can convince her to just visit the factory or Lyoko at least once, she will believe this isn't a joke. She's a realist."

"Try," Jeremie said. "I'll start working on her program." Ulrich nodded, standing. He was about to enter the elevator when Jeremie called, "Ulrich!" He turned, wondering what Jeremie wanted. "Don't say anything to Yumi yet," Jeremie said, images flashing across his glasses. "She's been unpredictable for awhile now. I don't know what I'm going to do."

Ulrich nodded. "My lips are sealed," he said. He entered the elevator and pressed the button, wondering how he was going to get Kailey to come to the factory.


	11. Chapter 11

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

* * *

Ulrich sat on one of the beds, flicking through channels on the tv. It was nearing nine o'clock, and Kailey still wasn't back. Each creak in the hallway had his head turning to the door, waiting for it to open and reveal Kailey returning. Nothing. Beginning to panic, he wondered if something happened to her. He tossed the remote aside and started pacing. He was debating whether or not to go look for her when the door opened. 

Kailey walked in, cool as anything, and sat down in the spot Ulrich had just vacated. "We need to talk," she said, the ice evident in her voice as she folded her hands in her lap. Ulrich swallowed and sat down on the other bed.

"I've been asking around, talking to some people who knew you from Kadic," Kailey dived in, staring at Ulrich. "Apparently you're promised to somebody named Yumi. Is that why you didn't want me to come? So I wouldn't meet Yumi?"

Ulrich fought hard to not smile. He waited a few seconds, then asked, "Who told you that?"

"Some girl, didn't say who she was," Kailey said, studying every detail of Ulrich's face. "Long black hair with a real whiny voice. She said she was your best friend in school. Is it true?"

Ulrich turned his head to look at Kailey. "Sounds like Sissi to me," he said. "She was the principal's daughter, and she had a major crush on me the whole time I was at Kadic. Didn't like her very much, still don't, as a matter of fact." He moved next to Kailey. "It's not true," he said, pulling her closer to him and kissing her forehead. "Yumi and I dated a bit, but not long. She's still my friend, though." He felt Kailey relax against him. "While you were out walking, did you think about what I told you at all?" he asked.

"Of course," she said, voice quiet. "It seems so unbelievable. I guess that's why I took Sissi's story hook, line, and sinker." She moved closer to Ulrich. "I don't want to lose you," she whispered.

Ulrich just held her, savoring each second with her in his arms. "What do I have to do to make you believe?" he muttered. "What can I possibly do to show you that Xana is real, that the world is in danger?"

He wasn't expecting an answer, so he was surprised when he heard Kailey mutter, "Show me Lyoko. Show me the danger." Ulrich pulled back and looked in her face. It was set in the same deteremined look he had seen before, when she shattered her hip in a hiking accident and doctors said she wouldn't walk again.

"Let me make a phone call," Ulrich said, withdrawing his cell phone. "I talked to Jeremie. He was at the factory. If he's still at the factory, we'll head there now." Kailey nodded, watching as Ulrich went to contacts to find Jeremie's number. Putting his phone to his ear, Ulrich waited while it rang. Kailey laid down, resting her head in his lap, and he began stroking her hair, relieved that she still had some faith in him. Hearing Jeremie pick up, Ulrich said, "Jer, are you still at the factory?"

"Of course," Jeremie said. "Why?"

"Is it possible for me to bring Kailey down there right now?" Ulrich asked.

"Sure," Jeremie said. "I'm finishing her program right now. She can take it for a test drive, maybe scout something for me."

"Right," Ulrich said, looking at Kailey's face. Her eyes were focused on him. "We'll be there in ten minutes." Hanging up, he kissed Kailey. "Jeremie's still there," he said. "He has a program he wants to run. Let's get going." Nodding, Kailey sat up.

"Where is this factory?" she asked, opening the door.

"By the school," Ulrich said. "We'll take a cab to Kadic and walk from there." He closed the door, and turned to find Kailey standing inches from him. She stood on her toes and kissed him, pulling him down as she lowered herself.

"Promise me we'll have a vacation, just the two of us, when this is all over," she said. "Promise."

"I promise," Ulrich said, grabbing her hand. Together, they walked down the hall to the stairs.


	12. Chapter 12

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine. Sorry for the long delay between updates, I promise to try and do better. I'm just overwhelmed by musical right now. We're doing West Side Story and the music is really complicated and rehearsals are running really long. By the time I get home, eat dinner, and finish my homework, I don't want to do anything except go to bed.**

* * *

"Its really simple, actually," Jeremie said, pulling up several screens on the monitor. "You stand in the cylindrical scanners down one level, I type a few things in, you get virtualized. Once you're in Lyoko, you lose all sense of smell, taste, and touch, which takes awhile to get used to, and you get special abilities. Want to have a go?" 

Kailey stood there, looking at the screens. Ulrich could see her thinking, absorbing everything Jeremie had just told her about Lyoko and virtualization.

"What type of weapon would I get?" she asked, leaning toward the computer.

"I have you programmed for throwing daggers," Jeremie said, typing a few things. The card with Kailey's data popped up.

"Can I possibly have a sword?" Kailey said, laying one of her hands on Jeremie's shoulder. He jerked around to look at her. Seeing him about to ask, Kailey shrugged and added, "I fenced in school. I was pretty good at it, too. I'd rather have a weapon I'm used to than something I've never used before. It would probably help a little that I don't need to learn something." Jeremie stared at her for another second before nodding and turning back to the screen.

"I'll be finished editing your profile in a second," Jeremie said, typing like crazy. "You and Ulrich should head down to the scanners. I'm sending you two on an easy scouting mission to Sector 5. Nothing fancy. We need to find where Aelita's being held."

"How will we be able to access Xana's mainframe without Aelita?" Ulrich said.

"Kailey can access it," Jeremie said, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "Actually, both of you can access it, but I'd rather Kailey do it while you handle the monsters, Ulrich. I found out how to access the mainframe without Aelita shortly after you left, by accident. We still need Aelita to shut down the towers, though."

Ulrich nodded. Taking Kailey's arm, he started tugging her towards the elevator. "You can watch Jeremie work later," he said with false exasperation. "We'll probably be spending a lot of our time here until we deactivate the tower." Laughing, Kailey turned around and kissed Ulrich on the cheek.

"Alright," she said. "Let's get going."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ulrich landed neatly on his feet in the mountain sector clad in his customary samari outfit. Looking around, he saw Kailey pushing herself from the ground and brushed her new outfit off. "Looks good on you," Ulrich said, walking over to her. Kailey was wearing pristine white leggings that stopped mid calf under a long, tan colored skirt with slits on both sides all the way to the chocolate colored waist band. Her top was also white, but it was a loose tank top and creatively embroidered with golden thread. Her hair was loosely braided, her feet were shod in a pair of golden ballet slippers, and the silver handle of a sword was sticking out of the sheath attached to a thin gold chain that was over the waist band.

"I don't know," she said, looking over her attire. "Not exactly the colors I would have chosen, but I like the clothes."

"Can we keep our minds on the goal?" Jeremie's voice rang out of nowhere. "Ulrich, get to an edge. I'm calling up the pod."

"Right," Ulrich said, winking at Kailey. "How far away from an edge are we?"

"Not far," Jeremie said. "Just head west for a couple of yards and watch out for monsters. I don't see any on the screen, but it doesn't mean they aren't there."

"Got it," Ulrich said, turning to face the direction Jeremie indicated. He smiled at Kailey and began to jog, knowing she would follow.

"What's this pod thing Jeremie's going to call up?" Kailey asked.

"Its the only way to get to Sector 5," Ulrich said, stopping at the edge of the cliff and throwing his arm out to keep Kailey from going over. "It spins in a circle, and it almost made Odd sick the first time we found it."

"I just entered the code," Jeremie's voice rang out. "It should be there in a second."

Ulrich nodded. "Kailey," he said, "before we go in there, I need to tell you what we'll face. The first section changes every time we enter it. We have a time limit to find the switch to get to the next section. Not only can Jeremie not track the switch for us from the lab, but we have to fight Creepers every step of the way. It'll be a race to the last second."

Kailey nodded, watching the white sphere rotate up the void. She reached for Ulrich's hand. "Let's get this over with," she said. The sphere rotated around them, and they were whisked away to Sector 5.


	13. Chapter 13

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine. Thanks for the reviews. I think I would have given up this story line long ago if I didn't know I had people waiting to hear what happens to the gang.**

* * *

"I feel ill," Kailey said, raising one of her hands to her mouth.

"Happens a lot," Ulrich said blankly, watching the wall around them rotate. He was looking for the entrance, but it seemed a long time coming up. "Jeremie, the door isn't opening," he said, moving one hand onto his sword. He heard Kailey shift behind him and knew she was doing the same thing.

"Strange," Jeremie said. "I don't see any reason why it shouldn't. Maybe theres a fault..." He mumbled off. Just then, the door slid open.

"Its open, Jer," Ulrich called out. "Kailey and I are going in."

"Be careful," Jeremie said. "I don't know why it did that, but it cut quite a bit of time off your hunt." Ulrich nodded at Kailey, and both of them took off down the tunnel.

"What exactly does this switch look like?" Kailey asked, glancing around her.

"Its not here," Ulrich said. "Its in the room at the end of the tunnel. Its just a huge button in the shape of the bullseye. Find it, push it, we move on." Kailey didn't answer, and that caused Ulrich to look at her. She was biting her lower lip, and her skin was paler than usual. "Hey, you alright?" he asked. She shook her head. Ulrich looked forward. He needed to talk to her, but time was against them now. 'After we find the switch,' he thought. 'We'll have plenty of time until we get to the mainframe.'

He moved a little faster, pulling ahead of Kailey. He was a good yard or so ahead of her when he heard a thud. Turning, he saw Kailey on the ground, her skin the color of ash. "Kailey!" he yelled, running back to her. He knelt by her side and pulled her onto his lap. Her breathing was ragged, and Ulrich watched as the edges of her being started flickering.

"Ulrich, what's going on?" Jeremie's voice rang out. "Kailey's stats are going haywire."

"Pull us out, Jer," Ulrich yelled. "Something's wrong with Kailey. She looks ill." He put a hand to her head, brushing a few stray strands of hair out of her face. He leaned over her as far as she could, and gently pressed his mouth to her forhead. "Please, don't let it be something horrible," he mumbled. "Let her be fine."

"Ulrich, I'll have you devirtualized in a minute," Jeremie's voice called out.

Ulrich held Kailey, eyes closed. He didn't want to see her flicker in his arms, and the flickering was growing worse. He sat there, glad he couldn't feel anything because he was sure his feet were numb and his skin was cold. When he felt the familiar twinge of devirtualization, he was relieved. He looked at Kailey, and watched her devirtualize as he went.

As soon as the door slid open, he ran to Kailey's scanner. She lay on the ground, still pale as anything, but her breathing was better. Scooping her into his lap, Ulrich began stroking her hair off her face, wondering what had happened.

"I see we're now allowed to bring strangers to the factory," somebody said in a really bitter voice.


	14. Chapter 14

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

* * *

Ulrich looked up from Kailey. Yumi was standing by the elevator, arms crossed over her chest, and she looked pissed. "Look, Yumi," Ulrich said, "I'm sorry about when I left, but now is not the time to bring up bitter feelings."

"No, of course not," Yumi said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Not only do you get to leave the gang and not talk to us for years, but the second you come back, you're right back in the action. Plus, you bring some girl with you. So, no, let's not bring up bitter feelings."

Ulrich opened his mouth, about to reply, when the elevator slid open behind Yumi. "Not now, Yumi," Jeremie said, stepping around her and hurrying to where Ulrich sat with Kailey. "How is she?" he asked, leaning down to take her pulse.

"A bit better, colorwise," Ulrich said. "Her breathings better, too. Other than that, I can't tell." He felt Kailey shift, and he watched as her eyes fluttered open. "Hey," he whispered, touching her cheek. "How do you feel?"

"Like shit," Kailey said, closing her eyes again. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Ulrich said, looking up to Jeremie, who was shaking his head. Behind him, Ulrich saw Yumi shooting him murderous looks. Making a mental note to deal with that later, he added, "I've never seen anything like that before."

"Nobody has," Jeremie said. Kailey made a lurching movement to sit up. Ulrich helped her, and Jeremie reached out a hand to help. "I should run a few tests. I wouldn't put this past Xana."

"How will you know if you're the only ones who know he exists?" Kailey asked, resting her head on her knees. Ulrich watched each motion, and realized that Kailey seemed more like herself with each second.

"You go back in the scanner, but we don't send you to Lyoko," Jeremie said. "It scans your DNA and other important information and sends it to the computer where I can see if Xana imprinted you with a virus or something." Kailey nodded, and put out her hand. Jeremie grabbed hold of it and pulled her up while Ulrich supported her from behind.

"Let's get it over with," she said, jaw set. "I see no reason to delay." Jeremie nodded and headed to the elevator, hooking Yumi with him as he went. Ulrich hesitated, watching Kailey acutely. "Go," she said, motioning to the elevator that Jeremie held open. "I'll be fine. I feel a lot better now."

Ulrich nodded and started to walk to the elevator. Halfway there, he stopped, turned around, and looked at Kailey. "Go," she mouthed. Instead, he walked back toward her, swept her into his arms, and kissed her like there was no tomorrow.

"I'll count the seconds until I know you're safe again," Ulrich whispered, refusing to let go of her. "I blame myself for this mess."

"Don't," Kailey whisered back. "What did I tell you about why I broke up with Roger? I'm fine. I trust your friends. We'll get out of this just fine. Now, go."

Ulrich gave her one last squeeze, released her, and joined Jeremie and Yumi in the elevator.

"So she's not just some random person from the streets," Yumi said, refusing to look at Ulrich. "She actually means something to you, and you drag her into this danger. For fun, I suppose."

"I didn't drag Kailey anywhere," Ulrich said, furious that Yumi would think something like that. Didn't he prove that he didn't risk the lives of those he cared about when they dated? "She heard about Odd, and she wanted to help. I tried to talk her out of it, but she was adamant about helping."

"Sure," Yumi said, stepping out of the elevator as soon as it opened. "Next you'll be telling me that you didn't mean what you said when you left, and that you're still apart of the gang."

"Knock it off, you two," Jeremie said when he saw Ulrich open his mouth to respond. "Yumi, Aelita called Ulrich and asked him to help. Ulrich, I'll explain later. Right now, let's just figure out what's wrong with Kailey." Ulrich nodded, watching Jeremie pull up the scans.

Ulrich watched the numbers flash across the screen, but he didn't wonder what they meant. He was pondering Yumi's words. He always knew he'd get an icy reception if he returned, but he always thought the five of them would be a gang. Apparently, Yumi didn't feel that way. He wondered how Odd felt about it.

"What's my specs?" Kailey said, exiting the elevator and walking straight to Ulrich. He shook his head to clear out those thoughts, and wrapped one arm protectively around Kailey's shoulders. She smiled at him and leaned against him, savoring his protectiveness.

"Give me another minute," Jeremie said. Suddenly, he stopped typing. "Impossible!" he exclaimed.

"What?" Ulrich, Yumi, and Kailey asked.

"Xana didn't do anything to Kailey," Jeremie said, resuming typing. "In fact, there is nothing wrong with Kailey's program at all. Everything's normal. There's no virus in her human DNA either. There is absolutely no reason for what happened on Lyoko."


	15. Chapter 15

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

* * *

"What do you mean 'nothing's wrong with her?'" Ulrich said. "There has to be something wrong. Things like that don't happen on Lyoko without a reason." 

"Her stats are clean, Ulrich," Jeremie said, pulling up some more screens. "There is nothing wrong with her. I can't explain why what happened happened." Ulrich felt Kailey wrap her arms around his waist, and he felt her shiver slightly. He squeezed her tighter and watched Jeremie type some more things.

"Everything is as it should be," Jeremie said. "The only thing I can think of is Xana made a virus that our technology can't track."

"How long do you think you can make something that can track an 'invisible' virus?" Kailey said, moving out of Ulrich's protection.

"Could take me days, even months," Jeremie said, typing some more. "Problem is, we don't have that type of time. Odd's fading faster each day, and I don't know what Xana's planning."

"So start working on it," Kailey said. "Yumi and Ulrich can go figure out where Aelita is and start working..."

"What happened to Aelita?" Yumi said sharply, looking at Jeremie.

"I was going to tell you," Jeremie said, pulling his hands off the keyboard long enough to turn to Yumi. "I just got distracted by what happened to Kailey. Aelita was kidnapped earlier today by Xana."

Yumi turned around and started walking towards the wall. All of a sudden, she punched the wall. "How the hell did that happen?" Yumi yelled, turning to Jeremie. "I though Aelita wasn't going to leave your sight for longer than a minute! I thought you knew what you were doing!"

"Aelita said she had something to do at home, and that people would be there," Jeremie explained demurely. "Xana had just finished something on Lyoko, and I was trying to figure out what it was, so I let her go."

"Who would she have plans with when the world's in danger and she knows she's the only one who can stop it?" Yumi yelled. "Who the fuck could she need to meet that badly?"

"She was coming to meet Kailey and me," Ulrich said, trying to draw the fire from Jeremie. He had watched as Jeremie sank into misery. Ulrich knew Jeremie would never intentionally put Aelita in harm's way. He loved her too much.

"So its your fault!" Yumi screamed, turning her anger on Ulrich. "You left us alone to face Xana, and you come back to help Xana win! You knew Aelita still trusted you! You knew she believed you! You bastard!" Yumi threw herself at Ulrich, fists curled, ready to hurt him as bad as he hurt her. She was ready to release all her anger into his calm face when she was grabbed from behind by Kailey and Jeremie.

"Yumi, calm down!" Jeremie grunted, pulling her back hard.

"Let go of me!" she yelled. "Let me give him what he has coming to him!"

"It's not his fault!" Kailey yelled. "Aelita called us a couple of days ago, and Ulrich couldn't say no! Ulrich hasn't called or contacted any of you for as long as I've known him!" Yumi continued to struggle, and, finally freeing the arm Jeremie held, slapped Kailey across the mouth, causing her to release Yumi's other arm. Still fuming, Yumi ran to the elevator and left.

"What's her problem?" Kailey said, gently rubbing her mouth where Yumi had struck her. Ulrich walked over to her and gently removed her hand. Blood was welling up in the corner of her mouth, and a thin scratch stretched across her cheek.

"Ulrich's departure shook the whole group up," Jeremie said, returning to the computer. "Yumi was hit hardest of all. She became depressed, and started spiraling downhill. She tried to committ suicide during one of Xana's attacks. I was barely able to activate a return to the past before she died. She claimed it was an accident, that she wasn't intentionally trying to get killed. We believed her and let it be. She just continued to get worse, and we didn't see it. Aelita caught her cutting her wrists one day in the bathroom, and called the ambulance. Yumi was admitted into the psych ward for a month, and she seemed to get better. The medicine they had her on, though, made her space out and forget important things. When they let her out, she continued to take the medicine, but our battle with Xana started to turn against us. We couldn't trust whether Yumi would be there or not."

"It doesn't look like she's taking her medication now," Ulrich said, looking up from Kailey. "I think she stopped taking it."

"I think so, too," Jeremie said, "but I can't prove anything. I think she stopped taking it after what happened to Odd."

"What exactly happened to Odd?" Kailey asked, wiping some blood of her chin. "The only thing we've been told was he was injured fighting Xana on the real world."

Jeremie flinched, accidentally entering something into the mainframe. "Great," he muttered, "another bit of unnecessary code." Louder, he said, "Its complicated. I don't think I should tell you until you see, but I can't leave the computer for awhile."

"That's okay," Ulrich said, putting his hand on his old friend's shoulder. "You figure out a program to figure out what's wrong with Kailey. We'll surface, get something to eat, see if we can figure out what Xana's up to, and bring you something back. We just need to take this day by day, and we'll be fine." Jeremie nodded, watching codes whirl across the screen. "Alright, then," Ulrich said, taking Kailey's hand and pulling her to the elevator, "we'll see you in an hour or so. Call me if you need anything sooner." Ulrich watched Jeremie for a second, concerned over his friend's sudden distraction. 'He was like this when he was working on Aelita's anti virus,' Ulrich thought. 'It's just him working his hardest on a solution.' Closing the elevator door, Ulrich and Kailey headed back up.

Jeremie sat there, staring at the code he accidentally added earlier. He then pulled up several other accidental codes he had added throughout the years, and a few odd codes that appeared during Kailey's virtualization. "Impossible," he whispered, hands flying over the keyboard. "Impossible." He hurriedly connected a few of them together, and ran them over an old program. Seeing the results, he stopped typing and stared at the screen in utter disbelief.


	16. Chapter 16

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

**Yea, long time between updates, I know, and I'm sorry. This chapter gave me some trouble, so, if its not long enough (like some of you complain about my other chapters) I'm sorry. I meant for this chapter to be fairly long, but I was getting annoyed with it, so I moved on to the next part of the story.**

* * *

"Poor Yumi," Kailey said, leaning her head on Ulrich's shoulder as they walked through the city looking for a restaurant. "I can't imagine going through all that." 

"I never took Yumi for one to lose it like that," Ulrich said, spotting a simple hamburger joint a block away. "Let's go there. I mean, she never seemed unstable..."

"People never do," Kailey said, pulling ahead a bit. Turning to face Ulrich, she added, "but I don't think Yumi's unstable. I think she's angry, and I think the medicine's messing her up more than helping her."

"You never have liked doctors much, have you?" Ulrich said, opening the door for her.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "They just complicate things. They're so pessimistic, always looking on the downside. Like when I broke my hip." Ulrich laughed. "Okay, shattered my hip 'beyond repair' and needed several operations to keep from getting an infection," Kailey corrected, scanning the menu. "What do you think Jeremie would want?"

"He won't really care," Ulrich said, digging through his pocket for money. "When he's working on something, he'll eat anything we bring him. Order what you want, and let's walk around a bit. Get some newspapers, maybe stop by the hotel and see what's on the news."

"There's an electronics store across the street," Kailey pointed out. "With televisions in the window." Smiling at Ulrich, she turned to place their order. Ulrich turned around and looked out the windows of the restaurant to the electronics store. The news was on, but they were only reporting on the weather. He studied the weather map for a second, and felt Kailey pull the money out of his hand. He was looking for anything that should not be happening around France in late April, he knew Xana would play with the weather, but he didn't see anything.

"Everything look quiet?" Kailey asked, tapping his shoulder with the back of food.

Ulrich gave her a weary grin, and he gratefully accepted his burger as they left the restaurant. "I wish they were showing something besides the weather," Ulrich said, throwing a glance back at the tvs. The newscasters had switched to sports, and he could have sworn he had caugh a glimpse of his own face looking back at him. "It reminds me of how much damage Xana can cause when he's in control."

"How much damage can this virus cause?" Kailey said, watching Ulrich take a bite out of his burger.

He swallowed, thought for a second, and was about to answer when his phone rang. Pulling it out, he looked at the screen and looked at Kailey. "It's Jeremie," he said, flipping his cell open. "Maybe he has some good news." Putting the phone to his ear, he said, "Hello?"

"Ulrich, bring Kailey and get back here as fast as you can," Jeremie said. Ulrich heard the click of the keyboard in the background, and was about to ask if it was a known Xana attack, when Jeremie hung up.

"Well," Kailey asked, crumpling the wrapper from her burger and throwing it away, "does Jeremie have good news?"

"He didn't tell me anything," Ulrich said, slipping the phone back in his pocket. "He just told me to bring you and hurry back to the factory."

"Well, that has to be good news," Kailey said, turning towards the factory. "He wouldn't tell you to bring me unless he had some type of break through." Ulrich nodded, but he was chewing his lip. He could think of numerous other reasons why Jeremie was telling him to bring Kailey, and not many were as optimistic as Kailey thought. Ever observant, though, Kailey noticed the worried expression on Ulrich's face. "All right," she said, turning to face him head on. "What's up? Your face is like a storm cloud."

"Nothing," Ulrich said, not wanting to worry her. Kailey shot him a look, but Ulrich looked away, knowing he'd crumble if she gave him a certain look.

"Ulrich,"she said, her voice raising slightly in warning. "'Nothing' is not up. There's something on your mind."

"Everything's fine," Ulrich said, casting a glance at Kailey's face. Kailey opened her mouth to argue when Ulrich's phone rang again. "Probably Jeremie wondering what's taking so long," he said, pulling it out. He didn't bother looking at the caller id, but flicked it right open and said, "We're almost there."

"Almost where?" a voice asked, laughing.

Ulrich froze, tossed a look at Kailey, and mouthed "Johnny," before turning his back on her slightly and saying, "Sorry, Johnny. I thought you were Jeremie calling to see where Kailey and I were."

"And where are you?" Johnny asked, still laughing.

"On a bridge in France, heading to a party," Ulrich said. He saw Kailey shoot him another look, and he turned even more. While he never could lie to Kailey, he had never told Johnny the truth. He had generalized things, outright lied, and just made up a whole chunk of his life to explain his life before North Ridge to Johnny and the other guys from the team.

"Dude, you're in Paris?" Johnny asked. "I thought you'd be at training camp for team USA."

Ulrich grimaced. Johnny had never been able to distinguish the fact that Paris and France weren't two names for the same place. "Not Paris," Ulrich said. "I'm in northern France, and training camp doesn't start for another month."

"Dude, does it matter?" Johnny said, and Ulrich could feel the excitment seep through the phone. "Think you could hook me up with a couple of French sweethearts?"

"Johnny, I don't have time to talk right now," Ulrich said, very aware of Kailey's glare at his back. "We're running late already as it is."

"Oh, right," Johnny said, deflated. "I just thought we could talk, you know, now that you've officially signed with team USA. You've been crazy busy since we graduated, and we hadn't hung out for awhile before that, what with nationals, prom, finals, and graduation."

"Johnny," Ulrich said, feeling sorry for his friend, "I promise I'll call you later. Right now, I've got to go."

"Yea," Johnny muttered, "Kailey's probably shooting daggers at you right now. Well, later." Ulrich heard the click on the end of the line, flipped his phone closed, and slipped it in his pocket.

"So Johnny knows even less than I did," Kailey said, turning away from Ulrich and walking at a brisk pace to the factory.

"Johnny has no reason to know," Ulrich said, running to catch up. "I wanted to get away from this life when I finally got accepted at North Ridge. I told you that."

"You don't think your friends have a right to know?" Kailey said, spinning to face him with tears in her eyes. "I've been quiet about this until now, Ulrich, but, hearing you lie so easily to Johnny, I wonder how much of what you have told me is lies. They slide so easily out of your mouth, don't they?"

"What?" Ulrich asked, shocked. "Kailey, what's gotten into you? I promised you I'd never lie to you."

"And yet, in this one day, I've found so many lies you've spread that I can't believe you," Kailey said.

"I was trying to protect you," Ulrich said dully. "I had no idea if Xana was shut down or not, or how far his power extended."

"I told you," Kailey said, sobbing uncontrollably into hands. "I told you the first time we talked that I didn't want to be treated like a glass statue, protected from everything. I told you I needed somebody who would let me face danger, if that's where my life leads."

"Kailey," Ulrich said, moving to comfort her, but stepping back when she recoiled. "Xana's dangerous. He can kill, and he won't stop at anything to get his goals. He's ruthless."

"Tell Jeremie I'll stop by the factory later," Kailey said, turning to the hotel. She left, leaving Ulrich on the bridge, and he watched as she vanished into the encroaching fog.


	17. Chapter 17

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

**For future reference, I will not update unless I get five or more reviews on the newest chapter.**

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"Where's Kailey?" Jeremie asked as the elevator door slid open and he saw Ulrich was alone. 

"She said to tell you she'd swing by later," Ulrich said dejectedly, walking to a spot next to Jeremie. "We got into a fight again."

"Again?" Jeremie asked, raising his eyebrows at his brunette friend.

"We kinda got into a fight when she returned to the hotel after I told her about Lyoko," Ulrich admitted. "She ran into Sissy, and Sissy was spreading lies about me."

"What was the fight about this time?" Jeremie asked, turning so he could look Ulrich full in the face.

"How I've been lying to her," Ullrich said, slumping slightly and sticking his hands deep into his pocket. He felt something smooth in his pocket and pulled it out. It was a turquoise stone Kailey had given him on their three year anniversary. Seeing it, he felt something pull at his heart. "Johnny called, and he knows nothing about Xana or Lyoko. I haven't really told him the truth, so I threw a lie out to him. Kailey became furious. She claims that because I can lie so easily to him, I must have been lying to her."

Ulrich looked up from the stone and saw Jeremie studying him. "Nothing I said made a difference," Ulrich continued, tucking the stone back into his pocket. "I tried to explain that I was protecting her, but she just got even more mad."

"How long have you been together?" Jeremie asked, leaving the keyboard alone.

"Over three years," Ulrich said, looking to the elevator, half hopeful that Kailey would come strolling in. "We started dating soon after I started attending North Ridge. Johnny always ribbed me about looking at her, said I'd get in trouble if Roger caught me. It was kinda hard not to look at her. She was always laughing, always joking with her friends. When she broke up with Roger, I was thrilled. I couldn't believe my luck, so I followed her to talk to her. She invited me to her fencing match, and we've been together ever since."

"Roger was a previous boyfriend?" Jeremie asked. Ulrich nodded, remembering how heartbroken Roger seemed after Kailey broke up with him. Now he felt he understood. There was something about Kailey that made everyday seem special. "How long did she date Roger before she started dating you?"

"She and Roger dated, officially, for two years," Ulrich said, remembering everything Johnny told him. "They off and on dated for about two months before that. They grew up right down the street from each other, and started dating the year before Kailey applied to North Ridge."

Jeremie nodded, then turned back to the computer. "Well," he said, "since Kailey's not here, I might as well explain what I found to you." Ulrich looked up, remembering Jeremie's earlier phone call. Jeremie continued, "Everything's fine, and Xana has not infected her with a virus. The problem seems to be in Kailey's DNA."

"What," Ulrich asked, looking at the screen. "Are you sure?"

"Very," Jeremie said, pulling up some screens. "Look at these codes that appeared when I virtualized Kailey."

Ulrich looked, but he couldn't see anything. "Einstein, you need to explain," Ulrich said, rubbing his forehead. "I can't make heads or tails of computer lingo."

"I thought you went to a specialty school," Jeremie said.

"For sports," Ulrich pointed out. "North Ridge is a sports academy. I was accepted to play soccer."

Jeremie shrugged and continued, "What I was showing you was the fact that they look like human DNA lines, but with a computer matrix instead of the letters representing the human genome. I layered it over some old computer codes, and it completely destroyed it. When I combined it with some other strands of computer code, the code it was combined with became more difficult to erase. Any virus sent at it bounced right off, dissolving as it went. I don't have a copy of Kailey's normal, human DNA to match it with. I was hoping to scan her and see if the codes are in her DNA or if they're a random occurance."

Ulrich stood in silence, staring at the computer screen. "You think," he began, choosing his words carefully and speaking slowly, "that the problems Kailey experienced on Lyoko might be in her DNA?"

"Pretty much," Jeremie said, typing something. "I started working on a code to add to her Lyoko form so those negative effects aren't as damaging. I should have a finalized code in another hour or two."

"What if those codes aren't in her DNA?" Ulrich asked. "What if its something else entirely?"

"We won't know until Kailey gets here," Jeremie said. "Can't you call her and tell her its important?"

"I can try," Ulrich said, pulling out his phone. "We've never really fought before. I don't know how she'll respond."

"It can't hurt," Jeremie said, typing like crazy.

Ulrich dialed Kailey's number and listened to it ring. "Hey!" Kailey's voicemail sang. "It's Kailey Hasz! Sing your tune and I'll get back to you."

"Kailey," Ulrich said, "its me. I'm sorry about earlier. I don't know what I did to make you so mad, but I can't fix it if you don't talk to me. This isn't what I called to talk about, but I'm truly sorry. Please come to the factory when you get this message. Jeremie thinks he found out what was wrong, but he needs to scan you again to make sure. Please hurry." He hung up and turned to Jeremie. "No answer," he said. "I don't know if that's because she's angry with me or what, but she didn't answer."

"I assumed as much," Jeremie said, looking up from the keyboard. "This is a really interesting code structure. If I experiment with it, I could probably encode it into yours and Yumi's Lyoko forms. It could make you stronger than you already are."

"Let's work on fixing Kailey's problem before we do anything else with that code," Ulrich said, looking up from where he had slumped against the wall. "Its not that I don't trust you. I trust you completely. Its just that I feel this is some trick thought up by Xana to destroy us."

"I thought so at first as well," Jeremie said, throwing a glance at Ulrich and glancing at the elevator. "But why would Xana give us a computer program that essencially could erase him?"

"This code can erase Xana?" Ulrich asked, standing up and moving to look at the screen.

"Hypothetically, yes," Jeremie said, pushing his glasses up. "It stands a very good chance of erasing Xana if we can find the heart of his programming." He stopped when he heard the elevator door slide open, and both he and Ulrich turned to look at it.

Yumi stood there, breathing heavily. "Xana's attacked," Yumi gasped, leaning against the side of the door for support. "Rue de Luc's in flames. Every building's burning, and nothing's taming the flames."

Ulrich stood still, feeling the blood drain from his face. "God, no," he whispered. "Kailey. Our hotel's on Rue de Luc."


	18. Chapter 18

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

**For future reference, I will set a review goal. When that goal is met, I shall continue. Until that goal is met, the next chapter will sit there and gather dust.**

**Yeah, if you're one of the people asking about Odd, his story is coming up soon, so stop asking about him.**

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Jeremie paled and started typing furiously on the computer. "He hasn't activated any new towers," Jeremie said. "It must be from the tower we can't find. Even if it wasn't, we wouldn't be able to deactivate it with Aelita." 

Still pale, Ulrich rushed to the elevator. "I'm going to find Kailey," he said, gesturing for Yumi to move.

"You can't," Yumi said. "Firefighters aren't letting anyone within half a mile of that area. If she was in the hotel, she'd be dead by now."

"She's not dead!" Ulrich yelled, tears forming in his eyes. "She can't be!" He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the elevator's side, letting the tears flow freely down his cheeks.

Yumi tossed Jeremie a look, and he gestured for her to come help him. She shook her head and entered the elevator, pressing the button to ascend. Feeling the elevator move, Ulrich looked up and saw Yumi leaning against the wall across from him, arms crossed over her chest.

"You love her," Yumi whispered, looking at her reflection. Ulrich just watched her, unsure of what she was going to do. "You love her, and I can't stop you from trying to save her," she continued, looking at Ulrich. The elevator stopped and the door slid open, but they just stood there, staring at each other.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you," Ulrich whispered. "I never meant to hurt you when I left."

Yumi shook her head. "We can talk about this later," she said, her voice strained with grief, "but, right now, we need to save your girlfriend from Xana." Ulrich nodded, and ran out of the elevator and out of the factory. Yumi watched him go, sighed, and ran after him, intending to help any way she could.

Ulrich didn't get on a bus or hail a taxi. He just kept running, putting his years of soccer training to use. He felt his muscles begin to burn, and his lungs ached for a decent breath of oxygen, but he kept going. Soon, he saw the flames leaping over the buildings in front of him. He heard somebody shout for him to stop, but he didn't. He was blind to what was going on around him, intent on getting to the hotel and getting Kailey out of there.

He felt the heat of the fire, and pulled up short, staring in disbelief as the extent of this attack hit him. Buildings were crumbling on both sides of the street, fire was covering everything. The noise was unbelievable, and he could hardly see from the light. His skin was growing taunt in the heat. He felt somebody grab his shoulder, and he turned, expecting to have to shake off a firefighter or a cop. Instead, he saw Yumi there, breathing hard in the smoky air. She gestured with her head to a section of the park and took off. Surprised, Ulrich followed.

"You're not going to get to the hotel that way," Yumi said once she caught her breath. "You felt the heat."

"So how am I supposed to do this?" Ulrich asked, pacing between the trees and staring at the flames. "Its not Lyoko, where I can just use super sprint to get through it unscathed, or even triangulate to search everything quicker."

"At least you realize that," Yumi said, looking up at him. "I was scared I wouldn't get here in time to stop you from running into the fire. The break did you good, you know your limits as a human. I think Odd needed a break. He was beginning to confuse his Lyoko-self with his human-self."

Ulrich pursed his lips and stared at the fire, only half hearing Yumi's words. He was wondering where Kailey was. "I need to get to the hotel," he whispered. He looked at the buildings near him, he looked at the flames above the tree lines, and he saw Xana's flaw. "We're going in the back way," Ulrich said, marching off towards the buildings.

"Ulrich, what the hell are you doing?" Yumi shrieked, grabbing him before he got too far. "The buildings are on fire, for God's sake!"

"But the backs aren't," Ulrich said, gesturing to the buildings he could see through the trees. "Xana blocked the main entrance, but he forgot about the back ways. We get in the back, find Kailey, and get out."

Yumi chewed her lip, looking where Ulrich gestured. She hadn't noticed that when she saw the street start burning. She just saw the flames and the intensity. "What if its a trap?" she asked. "What if Xana's using Kailey as bait to lure us, the last two warriors, to our doom?"

"That's a risk I'm willing to take," Ulrich said. "I brought Kailey here against my better judgement, completely knowing what Xana's capable of. I have to try and save her."

Yumi held him for another second, then let go. Ulrich gave her a weak smile and took off toward the back of the hotel. She watched him go, then took out her phone and sent Jeremie a text with their plans. Turning her phone off, she ran after Ulrich, wondering why she was doing this.

The back door of the hotel was locked. Ulrich could not believe his luck when he tried to open it. He pounded on the door, furious. Not surprisingly, the door remained resolutely shut. He took a step back and looked around him for something to break down the door, acknowledging Yumi as she joined him.

Nodding back, Yumi pulled a key out of her pocket. "I work here on weekends," she said, slipping the key into the lock. "This door is usually locked to protect the guests, and only unlocks when the fire alarm goes off. You have to unlock it from the inside to get out if there isn't a fire. I think Xana ruined the alarm system."

"That's handy," Ulrich said, moving into the billowing smoke pouring from the now open doorway.

"I saw the fire because I was planning on resigning," Yumi continued, ducking in. "I'm glad I hadn't yet. Let's make this fast, k?"

Ulrich nodded and ran to the nearest staircase. He managed to climb two flights before the smoke became so thick he couldn't see anything. He paused, trying to remember where their room was in relation to the back stairwell. He heard somebody cough, but he ignored it and began climbing again, remembering that their room was only three doors away one floor up.

The heat became unbearable halfway up the final flight, but Ulrich pushed on. He was three fourths the way up when the sheer force of the heat made him stop. "Ulrich!" Yumi called from behind him. "Its too dangerous! We have to get out!"

"I can't leave Kailey!" he called back, trying to brace himself against the heat to continue.

"Ulrich, if the heat's this bad here, then the whole floor's probably on fire!" Yumi yelled. "If Kailey was still in the room, she'd be dead now! There's nothing you can do!"

Ulrich heard her, but refused to listen. Kailey couldn't be dead. She had to be alive, she wouldn't let some fire catch her off guard. He raised one foot to continue, but stopped as a thought floated through his mind. 'This is Xana. He wants me to risk my life and weaken his resistance. Kailey could have escaped.' Above him, he heard the building creak ominously. Turning, he ran down the stairs, yelling, "The buildings about to collapse! We have to get out!"

They hurried down the stairs, barely managing to get out the door when they heard a loud rumble behind them. They continued running, and felt the earth shake as all the buildings on Rue de Luc collapsed into a smoldering pile. They stopped running about two hundred yards from the mess, coughing profusely to rid their lungs of the smoke.

"I-I'd better call J-Jeremie," Yumi said, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket. "Let him know we're fine." Ulrich nodded, leaning against a tree. He wondered where Kailey could be and debated calling her again, but decided that would be worthless if she had left her phone in the hotel. Instead, he stared at the empty space where the hotel used to be.

"Jeremie wants us to head back to the factory," Yumi said, flipping her phone closed. "He says that's were Kailey is likely to head. He's watching the news right now, looking for information on people brought to the hospital." Ulrich nodded, still staring at the fallen hotel. "Ulrich!" Yumi said, pulling him towards the factory. "Let's move before somebody becomes suspicious and checks the forest out." Ulrich nodded, still staring at the debris. So many thoughts were pouring through his head, but he didn't know where to begin. Shaking his head once, he began to run towards the factory.

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**This chapter was ready December 17, but I didn't upload it until now because I was waiting for the fifth review. I didn't get my fifith review, but I got sick and tired of waiting. If you want to hear more of this story, submit a review yourself and don't rely on others. I don't care if its one word or a lot more. Just let me know your thoughts so I can continue the story.**

**Next chapter will be uploaded after this story gets 80 reviews, no matter how tired of waiting I get.**


	19. Chapter 19

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

**klutzy red head, you were actually review number 79.**

**Reasons for long delay: Finals, temporary mental roadblock, and internet problems.**

**Yeah, if you're one of the people asking about Odd, his story is coming up soon, so stop asking about him.**

* * *

Ulrich slumped against the wall surrounding Kadic Academy, trying to catch his breath. He shouldn't have run into that smoke, but he wasn't really thinking. The only thing on his mind was finding Kailey. Now, he could only hope she had gotten out of there alive. 

Hearing Yumi breathe heavily next to him, he asked, "You okay?"

"Fine," she gasped. "Just peechy. Maybe next time we can run into a tornado Xana sent after us. Be a blast."

Ulrich looked up at Yumi the same time she looked at him. "You think she could be headed to the factory right now?"

"She's either heading there or the paramedics forced her to go to the hospital," Yumi said. "The only way we can find out is to get to the factory."

Ulrich nodded, breathing in some deep breaths of somewhat fresh air. "Let's go," he said, straightening up. "Jeremie probably has stuff for us to do."

He stared walking towards the factory, letting his mind drift into the possibilities of what could have happened with the fire. He briefly acknowledged Yumi when she caught up with him before he let his thoughts stray again. They walked in silence through the woods that surrounded Kadic, opting to take the sewers to the factory instead of the roads. Ulrich was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't hear Yumi when she said, "Ulrich." He did feel it, though, when she rapped her knuckles on his skull.

"Ow," he said, rubbing his head where she hit him, "what the hell was that for?"

"You weren' listening," Yumi said, glancing ahead of them, "and I needed your attention. Look ahead of us. That girl looks like she's been through hell. I think she kinda looks like Kailey, but you've known her longer. What do you think?"

Ulrich looked up. The girl some distance ahead did look like she'd been through hell. Her skin was red and somewhat peeling, her clothes were streaked with soot and ash, and her hair was burnt and covered with fire filth. Even through all that, though, Ulrich regconized the tired, limping walk and figure. Forgetting about his smoke damaged lungs, Ulrich took off, yelling, "Kailey!" as loud as he could.

Slowly, the girl ahead of them stopped, then turned to see who was yelling. Ulrich saw the face, every bit as burned as the rest of her, and cried. The girl was indeed Kailey, but she was so terribly burnt from the fire that it was hard to tell. Stopping short of running into her and causing her even more pain than she probably was already in, Ulrich asked, "Kailey, what happened? I was so scared. I though you were dead." He twitched, wanting to wrap her in his arms and hold her, but he resisted.

Kailey just stood there, staring at Ulrich in a quiet disbelief, wincing as the light wind danced over her fried skin. "Your monster," she finally whispered, voice hoarse from the fire's smoke. "Your monster decided to burn down our hotel."

Ulrich stood there, watching Kailey's eyes slowly fill with tears. He watched as the memory of what happened in the hotel came through Kailey's anger with Ulrich, and he wanted to comfort her, but resisted. "He wanted me dead," she whispered. "He was waiting for me when I got back."

_Flashback_

_Kailey ran up the stairs of the hotel, forgetting about the elevator. 'Lying bastard,' she thought, pulling open the door to her floor with unneeded force. 'How many other things is he keeping from me? What other lies are he spreading?' Heading to her and Ulrich's room, Kailey fumbled in her wallet for the keycard. Slipping into the open room, Kailey headed to the closest of the double beds. Laying down on it, she closed her eyes, letting her pent up frustration roll down her cheeks as tears. "I though he loved me," she whispered._

_"He did," a voice rumbled. Kailey sat up, frightened. Standing at the end of the bed was the same man who pushed her down the stairs at Aelita's apartment. "He told you to stay home, but you refused to listen," he said._

_"Who are you?" she asked, carefully reaching over to the nightstand for something to protect herself._

_"I think you know," the man said coolly. She noticed how he was holding a lit candle. "Your beloved Ulrich tried to save you from me, but you refused to listen. Next time, I suggest you do as he says." He walked away from her, toward the back window. "Unfortunately for you, there won't be a next time." Forgetting all pretenses of subtlty, Kailey grabbed the alarm clock and flung it at him. It flew right where his head would have been, shattering against the window. The candle fell onto the curtains, catching them on fire. Grabbing a pillow, Kailey started beating the flames, trying to put them out. It was them Kailey noticed a noxious smell. Xana was filling the room with a flammable gas._

_Panicked, Kailey ran to the door, pulling it open just as the gas caught. The roaring flames caught her as she was leaving, singing her hair and clothes and buring her beyond belief. Choking on the thick black smoke, Kailey fell on her knees and rolled, putting out the fire that was on her. Flames licking the walls and ceiling, Kailey crawled to the back stairwell. Her skin screamed in pain at the contact, but she pressed on. She had to get out, had to tell the others what was going on._

"He lit our room on fire," Kailey said. "I barely got out alive. I must have passed out when I got out because, next thing I knew, the whole street was on fire." She wobbled a bit, and Ulrich moved to grab her, but stopped when she caught her balance again.

"You need a hospital," Yumi said, catching up to them. "You should have gone to a paramedic and let them take care of you."

"You needed to know," Kailey shot back, wobbling again.

"Yumi's right, Kailey," Ulrich said, giving up on caution and supporting his girlfriend. She hissed in pain. "You need to see a doctor now. This is serious."

"I'll go tell Jeremie we found her," Yumi said, continuing down the path. "You take her to the hospital. Jeremie and I will be there shortly." Ulrich nodded, feeling Kailey's body go limp in his arms. Carefully picking her up, he carried her out of the woods.

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**Next chapter will be uploaded after this story gets 100 reviews.**


	20. Chapter 20

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

**Yeah, if you're one of the people asking about Odd, his story is coming up soon, so stop asking about him.**

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"We know were Kailey is," Yumi said as the elevator slid open. Jeremie looked up from the keyboard with a look of interest. "Ulrich's taking her to the hospital as we speak. She escaped Xana and was on her way here to tell us what happened." 

"How badly off is she?" Jeremie asked, turning his attention back to the screen.

"I was surprised she was walking." Yumi slid onto the floor next to Jeremie. "She could barely stand the wind touching her skin." Jeremie nodded and typed some more into the computer. When Ulrich and Yumi left, Jeremie duplicated the program he found from Kailey and began altering it, keeping the core the same, but attempting to bely the negative effects Kailey felt on Lyoko. He had two versions he wanted to try when Kailey was able to join the fight again. Halfway through the third, he looked down at Yumi when she sighed.

"What?" Jeremie asked, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

"I told Ulrich we'd meet him there," Yumi said, tracing some dust with her finger. "I was just wondering what we should say about Odd."

"What can we say?" Jeremie asked, pushing his chair back. "Odd had gotten overconfidant in his abilities, and his arrogance almost cost him his life."

"There's more to it than that, Jeremie," Yumi said, pushing herself up and dusting off her pants. "You weren't there. Odd tried to warn you, but you didn't listen."

"If you're talking about that story Odd was spinning about his Lyoko powers transferring to his human body," Jeremie began, striding toward the elevator.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about," Yumi interrupted, following. "I didn't believe it either, but now I'm wondering if it might possibly be true."

"There's no way it can be true," Jeremie scoffed. "The chances of that happening are astronomical. The scanner would have picked up such a dramatic change in DNA."

"What if it wasn't dramatic?" Yumi said as the elevator stopped. "What if the changes were happening subtly, everytime we went to Lyoko? The scanners wouldn't pick it up then." She picked up the pace on the bridge, not wanting to leave Ulrich alone too long while his girlfriend was hurt. "Odd's daydream seems eerily familiar to me."

"What daydream?" Jeremie asked, lengthening his stride to keep up with her. "Odd never said anything about a daydream."

"That's cuz you shot him down the first time he tried to tell you about his suspicions," Yumi said, glancing over at Jeremie. He was frowning as if trying to remember.

_Flashback_

_"Einstein, I'm telling you, something's up with the program," Odd said, rubbing his forehead and sliding against the wall._

_"Impossible," Jeremie said, staring at the screen. Odd watched the reflections in his friend's glasses. "You must be hallucinating again."_

_"I'm not hallucinating," Odd said. "That wasn't a normal dream. It was like one of my premonitions on Lyoko."_

_"Again, impossible," Jeremie leaned back in his chair and looked at his friend. Odd was still rubbing his forehead. "Maybe you should go rest. I'll call you if Xana launches an attack."_

_"I'm fine, Jeremie," Odd said, standing up. He shot Jeremie a look of annoyance, but Jeremie missed it because he was buried in his work again. Sighing softly, Odd wished Ulrich hadn't left two years ago. Ulrich would have listened through and tried to think of a solution. "Maybe I will go lay down." Jeremie muttered something incoherent as Odd walked to the elevator. Once inside, he rested his head against the cool metal of the walls and felt the slow jerking motion of the elevator starting up._

_When the elevator stopped, Odd stood up and walked out a little more vehemently than intended. He was upset over Ulrich's 'betrayal' and Jeremie's brush off. "Hey, Odd," somebody called out. He looked up. Landing neatly on the ground in front of him was Yumi, dressed in her customary black jeans and a new, dark purple turtle necked tank._

_He smiled and walked up to her. "Hey. How you feeling today?"_

_Yumi shrugged. "I'm okay, I guess," she said, looking closely at Odd's face. "What's up? You don't look so happy."_

_"It's Jeremie," Odd complained. "I've been having weird dreams, kinda like my Lyoko premonitions, but Jeremie says I'm just dreaming."_

_"Are you sure?" Yumi asked. "I mean, wouldn't the scanners catch something like that?"_

_"I don't know!" Odd cried, throwing his hands up. "All I know is my dreams are freaking me out. If they're right, Xana's going to become very difficult to beat. There's, like, another tower someplace new, someplace hard to get to. Once its activated, we might not be able to win ever again."_

_"I'll talk to Jeremie," Yumi said, moving to the elevator. "If we can get him to check it out, I'd feel a little better. I don't like the idea that Xana might have a hidden tower, even if its just a dream. Tell me if you have any other weird dreams about that mystery tower."_

_Odd nodded and watched the doors slide close behind Yumi. He doubted she'd do any better than he did, but it was worth a try. He hadn't told her the worst of it, though, and he really didn't think she'd like it._

"He had this daydream about a week before the mysterious tower was activated," Yumi said as she stopped at a bus station. "He saw a huge fire, like the one we just had. He saw himself in the hospital, but, most importantly, he saw Ulrich return with a strange girl. I don't know about you, but the similarities are too much for this to be mere coincidence."

The bus arrived and they got on. Finding a pair of empty sears, the two sat down. "Odd predicted the activation of the hidden tower?" Jeremie whispered. He kept one eye on the other passengers. If any started looking too interested, they were off.

"That's what he said," Yumi shrugged. "He was trying to tell me something about the tower when we were attacked. I think he might know where it is."

"Then we'll take Ulrich to see Odd once he knows Kailey'll be fine," Jeremie said. "Maybe Odd will remember something and tell us where the tower is located."

XXXXXXXXXX

Ulrich was sitting by Kailey's bed, watching the heart monitor go through its steady cycle of beep-beep-beep that said she was okay. The doctors had managed to stabalize her, but they said she'd have to remain there for awhile to do some skin grafts. Ulrich had just nodded numbly, and turned his attention back to a silent vigil at her bedside. Hearing the door creak, he turned to see Jeremie and Yumi come in.

"How is she?" Jeremie asked, pulling up the extra chair.

"Stable," Ulrich whispered, turning back to look at Kailey's burned features. "She'll be here awhile, though."

Jeremie nodded and chewed his lip thoughtfully. "Maybe you should take a walk," he finally said. "Clear your head. Stop by and see how Odd's doing. I'll keep an eye on Kailey for you."

Ulrich shook his head. "I want to be here when she wakes up," he said. Jeremie and Yumi exchanged glances.

"Ulrich," Yumi said gently. "Odd might hold the key to how to defeat Xana."

Ulrich's head snapped up, and he looked surprised. "He might have the key?" he asked. "How?"

"We don't know," Jeremie shook his head, "but we have reason to believe that Odd knows the location to the mystery tower. That may be why Xana attacked him. You might be the only way to get the answer out of him."

Ulrich was turn. He wanted to see Odd, apologize for his behavior when he left, and figure out the secret of the tower, but he didn't want to leave Kailey. Looking back at his girlfriend, he saw her stir. "Ulrich." A soft whisper slipped through her lips.

Making up his mind, he walked to the head of the bed. "I'm here, Kailey," he whispered, leaning over. "I'll be right back. Odd might have an answer we're looking for. Jeremie's here, though. I'll be back as soon as I can." Standing back up, he saw Kailey's pale green eyes looking at him. Giving her a smile, he repeated, "I'll be right back." She carefully nodded, and Ulrich followed Yumi out of the room.

They headed up a couple of floors and into the critical care unit. "I thought Aelita said he was dying," Ulrich whispered to Yumi as she nodded to some of the nurses.

"He is," she whispered back. "He's been gradually getting worse. They just moved him to this ward from a standard room two months ago. If we can't stop Xana soon, Odd might soon be in ICU." Stopping outside one of the doors, she gently knocked, then pushed it open. Ulrich followed her in, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw Odd in the hospital bed.

"Today's a good day for him," Yumi whispered, pulling him over. "Talk to him. Xana ruined his sight."

Hesitantly, Ulrich looked at Odd's face. Sure enough, his eyes were fogged. Odd's breathing was ragged, and his heart monitor's beep was uneven. "Hey, Odd," he finally said. "Its me, Ulrich. Remember me?"

Odd's eyes flew open from their partially opened state. Reaching up for his oxygen mask, Odd carefully removed it. "Ulrich?" he whispered. His voice was raw from lack of use. "Is it really you?"

"Course it is," Ulrich said, trying to put a smile in his voice. "I heard you were in a bad state, so I flew back from America."

"I thought you didn't care," Odd whispered, letting his eyes flutter half closed again. "You never called, never wrote. You just vanished."

"I'm sorry, Odd," Ulrich said, pulling a chair next to his bed. "I just let American life consume me."

"Did you bring anyone with you?" Odd suddenly asked.

"Yumi's right here," Ulrich said, but he was interrupted.

"Not somebody who already knows the secret, somebody new." Ulrich looked at Yumi, but she motioned for him to go on.

"Yea, I brought my girlfriend. Xana's already got to her."

"Keep her safe," Odd muttered, slipping into unconsciousness. "She holds the key into the new sector."

"Wait," Ulrich said. "How does Kailey hold the key? How does she use it?"

"Its too late, Ulrich," Yumi said, motioning for him to follow her out. "Everytime Odd starts mentioning anything about his dreams, whatever Xana did to him causes him to black out. That's new, though. He had never said anything about the stranger holding the key to the new sector."

"Hopefully Jeremie can figure it out soon," Ulrich said as they headed back to Kailey's room. "Because I really don't want to know what Xana's willing to do to keep Kailey off Lyoko permanently."

* * *

**Next chapter will be uploaded after this story gets 110 reviews.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Sorry about the really long delay, but I got caught up in a rush of severe senioritis and had to cut some things out of my life to keep up with my schoolwork. Plus, with Prom and a new job, I was temporarily overwhelmed. All's good now, so let's resume where we left off, 'k?**

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

* * *

"Jeremie," Kailey whispered, eyes flickering shut. "What were you going to tell me earlier?"

Jeremie had turned his attention to his laptop after Ulrich and Yumi had left, but, at Kailey's whisper, he set it aside. "Just something about your DNA," he said, standing up. "Its complicated to explain, but all the data's in the supercomputer."

"Try to explain," Kailey whispered. "I need to know."

Jeremie moved his chair closer to Kailey's bed, gathering his thoughts. "I should really have the displays," he muttered absentmindedly, "but I guess I could explain it without them." He looked at Kailey, her dark lashes resting gently on the white bandages covering her face. "Your DNA isn't exactly human. The- you have the normal genomes but, well, you have extra genomes. I don't even think we can call them genomes. They're more like computer codes."

Kailey stirred briefly, and Jeremie stopped. He was confusing himself, and he was supposed to be the expert. Gathering his thoughts again, he watched Kailey breathe. He knew she was alert, just waiting for him to continue.

"What I'm trying to say is, the reason you collapsed on Lyoko is because the codes in your DNA clash with the codes used to virtualize you," Jeremie continued. "I can rectify the problem with numerous combinations, but I'm not sure how it will affect your human DNA. I was planning on running tests when you got there."

"What type of codes?" Kailey whispered. "What exactly do the codes do besides hurt me?"

"I don't know," Jeremie said. "They're encrypted in a way I haven't seen before. I can only guess."

"My grandfather always said, 'The best way to find the solution is to understand the entire problem,'" Kailey whispered. "I'm not telling you how to do your job, but maybe you should understand the codes before you play with them."

Jeremie sat back in his chair. He never thought of that before. Unfortunately, the time it would take to find the key to the code would allow Xana time to succeed. He sat there pondering it as Kailey drifted off into sleep. He was still wondering about it when Ulrich and Yumi returned.

"Is she alright?" Ulrich asked, returning to his post.

"She's fine," Jeremie said absentmindedly. "Just gave me some food for thought. What did Odd say?"

"Apparently, Kailey is a key to the sector where Xana has the activated tower," Yumi said, crossing her arms and leaning against the doorway. "Then Xana's attack took effect and Odd went unconscious."

"I don't want Kailey here alone," Ulrich said, reaching out gently to touch Kailey's hand. "I don't know what Xana's willing to do to keep Kailey down."

"Are we sure Xana knows Kailey's the key?" Jeremie asked. "Maybe he only attacked her to get to you."

"Either way, Kailey's still in danger," Yumi pointed out. "He'll find out sooner or later that Kailey didn't die in that fire, then he'll be looking for her to finish the job."

"The doctors won't let anybody sit here all night unless they're blood relatives," Jeremie said, "and we can't risk moving her until she's more stable."

"We have to think of something," Ulrich said. "I can't just leave her here and let Xana waltz in here and do who knows what."

"Let's go back to the factory and think of something there," Jeremie said, tucking his laptop under his arm and standing up. "Chances are, Xana doesn't even know Kailey survived yet. We'll be back as soon as visiting hours begin tomorrow to make sure she's fine."

Jeremie walked out of the room, and Yumi followed him, leaving Ulrich alone with Kailey. Ulrich walked over to Kailey and leaned over her, brushing his lips gently against her bandaged cheek. He watched her eyelids flutter for a moment, then turned and followed his friends out, shutting the door softly behind him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ulrich, let's do a recon mission," Yumi said as they boarded the bus back to the factory. "See if we can find where this secret sector Odd was talking about is located."

"I don't want to be unreachable if Kailey needs me," Ulrich said, staring out the window.

"You should do a recon," Jeremie muttered, tapping away on his laptop. "If something comes up concering Kailey, I'll pull you out. We can't just sit around and wait for Xana's next attack."

Ulrich still stared out the window. A million thoughts were tumbling through his mind, including something Yumi had said earlier about Odd.

"Where would we look if we go in?" he muttered. "We have no idea where to even begin the search, and we know from experience that it takes a long time to search Lyoko thoroughly."

"We can't just sit here and do nothing," Yumi said. The group sat in silence for awhile, deep in their thoughts. "Jeremie, what if its like Sector 5? What if we need a code to get into it?"

"I'll work on that while you two are doing a physical search," Jeremie muttered. "If we can find this hidden sector, we can save Odd and find Aelita."

Yumi looked at Ulrich, eyes pleading. Ulrich turned back to the window, mulling through his thoughts. "Let's do it," he said as the bus rolled to a stop. "Kailey wouldn't forgive me if I sat by and did nothing when I could be helping."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Numbers and letters flew past, wrapping around her and left. She shrugged them off, trying to move forward. She saw the a glint of light to her left, and she turned to see what it was. There was nothing but more numbers._

_"Kailey!" someone shouted. Kailey turned around, looking for the caller._

_"Kailey!" they yelled again. Kailey knew that voice._

_"Aelita?" she called out. "Where are you?"_

_"Kailey!" Aelita yelled, getting fainter. "Help me!"_

_"Aelita!"_

_"HELP!!"_

Kailey's eyes flew open and she was about to jerk upward in reaction to her dream, but a spasm of pain stopped her. Every time she's been unconscious since the fire, she's almost the same dream: trapped in a sea of numbers. Carefully reaching her hand up to her bandaged face, she gently rubbed her eyes.

"How pathetic," a voice whispered. Kailey stopped, eyes wide with fear.

"Who's there?"

"I created you for greater things than this," the voice said, not answering.

"Who are you? What do you want?" By now Kailey was growing frantic.

"You're not to help them," the voice said. "You will resist their childish attempts to save this world. You will help create the new world."

"What do you mean?" she cried, tears sliding down her cheeks.

"Kailey?" a very real voice asked. "Are you ok?"

"Who are you?" she whispered again, afraid to open her eyes.

"Kailey, its Amanda, the night nurse. You were yelling out in your sleep. Are you ok?"

Kailey removed her hands from her eyes, blinking in the light. Amanda stood at the side of the bed, pale face concerned.

"I'm ok," she whispered. "Bad dreams."

Amanda just stood there, uncertain. "Maybe I should call your boyfriend," she said.

"No!" Kailey said quickly. "Don't tell Ulrich. He'll just hover more than he already does, and he'll make himself sick. Just let him be."

"If that's what you want..."

"That's what I want," Kailey confirmed. Turning her head slightly, she let herself drift back to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

3 hours later.

"I don't understand why Xana isn't concerned we'll fine this new sector..."

"He isn't concerned because he thinks he has the two, maybe three people who know where the sector is out of the picture."

"Where do you think we should look next?"

"Let's go to the forest sector," Yumi said, stopping by a transport tower. "There's a lot of potential entrances there."

Ulrich stopped next to her and stared out into the desert. "Maybe we should split up," he said. "We'd cover more ground, find out anything sooner."

"I don't know, Ulrich," Yumi said, chewing her lip. "What if Xana does decide to attack. Two people are better than one."

Ulrich opened his mouth to argue when Jeremie's voice cut through the silence. "Ulrich, the hospital called."

"Is Kailey ok?"

"She had some bad dreams last night, and they want to know if you can come down there, you know, to talk," Jeremie said.

"Devirtualize me," Ulrich said, tossing a glance at Yumi. "We'll finish here later."

Yumi shook her head slightly. "I don't think this is a good idea. We need to find the sector."

Ulrich ignored her. Feeling the familiar tingle of devirtualization, he turned back to the desert.

Yumi watched as he went, waiting for Jeremie to devirtualize her. After awhile, when nothing had happened, she called out, "Jeremie? Is everything all right?"

"No," Jeremie said, sounding worried. "You should be out of Lyoko by now. I started your devirtualization process the same time I started Ulrich's."

Yumi stared at the tower. "You mean you can't devirtualize me?"

"No," Jeremie said. "Yumi, I think you're stuck on Lyoko."

* * *

**Next chapter will be downloaded after 120 reviews.**


	22. Chapter 22

**I do not own Code Lyoko. OC are mine.**

* * *

"What went wrong?" Ulrich said, leaning over Jeremie's shoulder.

"I don't know. Everything was running fine."

"Maybe Xana's launching another attack."

"I sure hope not." Jeremie leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. "You head to the hospital and talk to the doctors. I'm going to stay here and see if I can devirtualize Yumi."

"Be careful, Jeremie. You're on your own is Xana decides to take you out."

"I'll be fine, Ulrich. Go see what the doctor's want."

Ulrich ran to the elevator, tossing one last look over his shoulder before activating it.

Jeremie turned back to his console and started typing.

"I don't get it," he said. "Everything was running like normal. You haven't fought any monsters, and there's nothing wrong with the scanners because Ulrich got through just fine."

"Maybe something happened when we used the towers," Yumi suggested. "I did feel a weird presence when we shifted from ice to desert."

"I'll check it out," Jeremie said. "Meanwhile, head to the forest region. As long as your stuck on Lyoko, you might as well try to find that tower."

"I'm on it," Yumi said. Jeremie watched the screen as Yumi headed to the nearest tower. "Let me know if anything changes."

Jeremie started pulling up files and running various scans. He was lost in concentration and didn't hear Yumi call his name.

"JEREMIE!"

"What?" he shot up, looking around him in surprise. "Yumi, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong. I've only been trying to get ahold of you for the past ten minutes and you seem ignorant to that and, oh, by the way, I might have found Aelita, but that's no biggie since you're apparently too engrossed in your work to care..."

"Wait, you found Aelita?"

"Well, not exactly," Yumi said.

"Not exactly how??" Jeremie asked, confused. "You either found her or you haven't found her. There's really no alternative."

"Actually, there is." Yumi stopped, giving Jeremie a moment to think it through.

"I still don't see how you've haven't exactly found Aelita," Jeremie said, running through every single possibility he could think off. "She's either there, or she's not. Unless she's..." Jeremie drifted off. He saw it now. A virtual prison, drawing on huge stores of energy. Yumi must have stumbled across an energy shift or something.

"Einstein, are you there?" Yumi asked.

"Aelita's trapped in an energy bubble," Jeremie mumbled, burying himself in his work again. "Good work, Yumi. Now, we just need to find that sector."

"I'm on it," Yumi said, heading off. Jeremie leaned forward and stared typing like a mad person. For the first time since Aelita was captured, he felt a glimmer of hope.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ulrich, I'm quite concerned about Kailey's behavior last night."

"I understand, but there's nothing I can do or say to help."

"Are you sure?" The doctor leaned back, resting his fingertips against each other and looking at Ulrich over the top of his glasses. Ulrich ignored him. He'd been sitting there for forty minutes talking about Kailey's past. There was nothing Ulrich could say that could possibly explain Kailey's strange dream without giving away Lyoko.

"What I'm asking you is serious, Ulrich," the doctor said, leaning back over the desk. "If Kailey has had delusional problems in the past, we can help. We need to know if this is a side effect of the fire or something else entirely."

"Kailey doesn't suffer from delusions," Ulrich snapped. He was getting frustrated. He could be on Lyoko right now, helping Yumi find the sector and maybe looking for Aelita. He stood up, letting the chair fall backwards. "I'm going to see her."

"Ulrich, perhaps that's not the best idea..." the doctor began, but Ulrich interrupted him.

"You call me to talk about Kailey, then take up an hour of my time trying to tell my that my girlfriend might possibly be delusional, but you don't expect me to try and see her?" Ulrich said incredulously. "You must be out of your mind." By then, Ulrich had reached the door. Pulling it open, he escaped the doctor's office and headed to the stairs.

Ulrich stopped on one of the landings and leaned against the wall. As much as he hated to admit it, the dream the doctor described scared him. For all he knew, it could be Xana trying to play with her mind. Taking a few seconds to clear his mind, Ulrich finished the climb to Kailey's floor.

When he got outside Kailey's door, he stopped for another moment before opening it. Kailey was propped up, watching tv.

"Hey," he said, walking in.

"Hey," she whispered. Ulrich felt a stab of anger against Xana. Did he always have to be so cruel?

"How are you feeling?" Ulrich asked, pulling up a chair to his favorite position beside her.

"A little better." Kailey kept her eyes on the tv, watching some soap opera. Ulrich felt some faint tension between them. He sighed internally, then carefully reached out for her hand. She let him take it.

"Kailey, honey, are you still mad at me?"

"No." Kailey's voice was stiff and hoarse. Ulrich leaned forward.

"Are you sure, because it seems like you are." Ulrich knew she was. There was no denying it. All the signs were there. The issue, as it always is and probably always will be, would be getting Kailey to admit it before it got too bad.

"I'm not mad, Ulrich," Kailey said, staring at the tv. Ulrich waited. He knew how to get her to spill.

Sure enough, Kailey's eyes began to flicker from the tv to Ulrich. Then her eyes closed briefly, and Ulrich knew she was about to let her anger go.

"Has Johnny called?" she asked. Ulrich felt her fingers tense in his hand. Ulrich didn't answer. He couldn't lie to Kailey, but he knew what her response would be if he told her the truth. He didn't need to say anything.

"He hasn't." Kailey pulled her hand from Ulrich's grip. "Why can't you just be honest with him, Ulrich? Why can't you just be honest with anyone?"

"Its not as simple as you think," Ulrich said, standing and moving to the door to make sure nobody was listening. "Do you want to know why I came? Because the doctors think what you dreamed last night was a bunch of delusions. If we tell people the truth about Xana, they'll think the same thing."

"How do you know?" Kailey asked, shooting Ulrich a look as he returned to his seat. "Have you tried to tell anyone?"

"We've told a couple of people a few times," Ulrich admitted. "But it didn't do any good. They wanted to see it for theirselves."

"So what's wrong with telling everyone?"

"Because not everyone will wait to see if its true!"

Kailey leaned back against her pillow, a bit taken aback from Ulrich's outburst. Ulrich sat stiffly in his chair. Slowly, he put one hand on his forhead while reaching for his cell with the other.

"I'm sorry, Kailey," he whispered, typing something and sending it. "I didn't mean to yell. Its frusterating keeping it a secret, and we've been doing this for years. Every time we thought we found an escape, we found another dead end."

"Ulrich," Kailey whispered, reaching back out for his hand. Ulrich gave it to her, glad that she was, for the moment, forgiving him. "What's wrong? You know you can tell me anything."

Ulrich closed his eyes. There was so much wrong with everything, but he couldn't tell her everything, not yet.

"Ulrich, tell me what you can," Kailey whispered, pulling Ulrich until she cold hold him in her arms.

"I didn't want to come back," he whispered, slowly pulling away so he wouldn't hurt Kailey. "I left because I couldn't fight Xana anymore. I cut out my friends to keep myself from getting sucked back in. I though we had defeated Xana when I left."

"But you didn't."

"No," Ulrich whispered. "Everything had been quiet for so long. I was so sure that the reason he was quiet was because he knew he had failed and was surrendering. I wouldn't hear the others when they insisted that it was a trap, that Xana was just biding his time."

"Ulrich," Kailey muttered. Slowly, she reached out and touched his face. Ulrich brought his hand up and took her hand in his.

"If I hadn't left, we wouldn't be here right now. Xana would be destroyed, and we'd be back in America doing something else."

"No we wouldn't," Kailey whispered. Ulrich looked at her. "If you hadn't left your friends when you did, we wouldn't have met."

"Everything going on now is my fault," Ulrich said. "You wouldn't be here, Odd wouldn't be dying, Aelita wouldn't be Xana's prisoner, Yumi wouldn't be stuck on Lyoko..."

"Yumi's stuck on Lyoko?" Kailey said, snapping Ulrich out of his reverie. "How did Yumi get stuck on Lyoko?"

"Jeremie doesn't know," Ulrich said. "Last time I know something like this happened, the Sciphizoa stole Yumi's DNA sequence code. But we didn't run into any creatures during our recon."

"You need help," Kailey said, starting to get out of bed. "I don't need to be here..."

"Are you mad?" Ulrich yelled as he jumped up. Carefully, Ulrich tried to push her back onto the bed. "You're severely burned. You need rest and skin grafts. The doctors said it would take a couple of weeks..."

"A couple of weeks we don't have," Kailey snapped, fighting back. "You need every person you can get..."

"Every warrior who is fit to fight will fight," Ulrich snapped back, strengthening his efforts to restrain Kailey. "'A Lyoko warrior not in the best of health is worse than a Lyoko warrior who has not arrived to fight.' Jeremie told us that once when Odd showed up once too sick to see straight. You're not fit."

"I can help," Kailey said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You need to let me help."

"Absolutely not," Ulrich said, finally managing to get Kailey on the bed. "I know how frusterated it is not to be able to fight. But I also know its necessary." Ulrich waited a minute to see if Kailey was done fighting before he stood up. "I'll let you know what's going on, but you need to promise me you'll do what the doctors tell you without a fuss. Can you do that?"

Kailey just lay there, staring at the ceiling.

"Kailey!"

"I'll try," she whispered. "I'll leave the fighting to the veterans."

"Only until the doctors discharge you," Ulrich amended. "Then you can destroy as many of Xana's monsters as you want." Ulrich glanced up to the door. "I need to go help Jeremie," he continued. "I'll see you later."

"Of course," Kailey whispered, turning her head to Ulrich. She managed a weak smile. "You know where to find me."

Ulrich smiled wryly at her acceptance. He knew something was up, but he didn't have time to figure it out right now.

* * *

**Next chapter will be downloaded when I have time (college)**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N**: I know its been almost a year, but I needed the break. Too much pressure from people who enjoy the story mixed with the pressure of college life had me in an extreme form of writers block. However, because I haven't even so much as looked at this story in that long, I'm actually enjoying writing it again, which is all that matters in my book (no pun intended). So, now that I've figured out my priorities again, let me make this clear: I will update on my own time. Winter break is coming up, so I'll have plenty of writing time, and I might be able to post a chapter or two, but I'm not promising anything.

* * *

"Jeremie, please tell me you have good news, " Ulrich said. He looked down the street, phone firmly against his ear.

"I still can't devirtualize Yumi," Jeremie said, "but we might have found Aelita."

"Really? That's great!" Ulrich exclaimed. He jumped on the bus and found an empty seat in the back. Jeremie didn't say anything. "There's a 'but', isn't there?"

"Two people aren't enough to break the energy field," Jeremie said. "Even if Kailey gets out of the hospital in time, we might not be able to get Aelita out."

Ulrich took the phone away from his ear and stared at it. This whole mission just kept getting riskier and riskier.

"Ulrich, you still there?" Jeremie's voice came out of the phone. Slowly, Ulrich brought the phone back to his ear. He had an idea, but he wasn't sure how Jeremie would handle it.

"What if we could recruit somebody else?" Ulrich said. "Somebody Xana wouldn't possibly know about yet."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Jeremie said. "Xana's already cut our forces down considerably…"

"Which is exactly why this might work," Ulrich cut in. "If Xana believes that we don't have anyone else to turn to, he won't be expecting another warrior, especially if we fly them in from America."

Ulrich waited as Jeremie thought. He could just imagine Jeremie analyzing every detail, deciding if adding another person into Xana's web would somehow even the odds.

"Who do you have in mind?" Jeremie asked.

"A kid I know from school. He would fit the bill perfectly."

"Call him. This might just work."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yumi ran through the ice region, searching for anything to lead her to the mysterious sector or to Aelita's prison's entrance. Everywhere she looked, though, there was nothing but a white expanse. There were no monsters, no glowing towers, nothing.

"Jeremie," Yumi called out, "do you have any idea where the entrance of this prison might be?"

"I haven't found any large surges of energy," Jeremie said. "But that doesn't mean they don't exist. Xana's probably disguising it. But I might have found out why you're stuck on Lyoko."

"Can you fix it?" Yumi skidded to halt at the edge of a glacier.

"It's going to take a while," Jeremie said, "but I should be able to write a program to fix it."

Yumi, hearing an edge in Jeremie's voice, stopped running. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean? Everything's going fine," Jeremie quickly said.

"No, you're voice sounds strained. Is-are-is Odd-I mean, are Kailey and Odd getting worse?" Yumi said. "Is Ulrich okay?"

"Kailey's on the mend, Odd's still deteriorating, and Ulrich's fine," Jeremie muttered.

"Then what's going on?" Yumi called out. "Come on, Jeremie, don't do this to me. Don't leave me in the dark again!"

Jeremie winced. He knew exactly what Yumi referring to, the time when Jeremie wouldn't tell her anything about Lyoko for the sake of her sanity. But now, Jeremie couldn't decide what was worse: letting Yumi know about another foreign Lyoko warrior, or waiting for Yumi to find out on her own. He sighed, reaching a decision.

"Ulrich's calling in a friend from school for help."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ulrich passed the terminal anxiously. He had called his friend as soon as he hung up with Jeremie, and had arranged the earliest flight to France he could. That was nine hours ago. The plane should have arrived thirty minutes ago. Ulrich jumped when the PA system went off, announcing the arrival of the plane. Quickly, Ulrich glanced toward the exit and watched for a familiar face.

"Hey, Ulrich!" somebody called out from the terminal exit. Ulrich felt a smile briefly on his face as he walked toward his friend.

"Nice to see you again, Johnny," Ulrich said, thumping his friend on the shoulder. "Thanks for flying out here."

"No problem, Ulrich," Johnny said as he shifted his duffel bag into a better position. "Glad I could help. What's this problem you need help with, anyway."

"I'll explain in the car." Ulrich turned to the exit and started heading out. Johnny rushed up besides him.

"Hey, man, what's your hurry? Its not like the world's going to end or something." Johnny laughed at his own joke. Ulrich stopped. He turned his head slowly towards Johnny and caught his eyes. The smile on Johnny's face faded. "Shit, man, you've got to be joking!"

"I'll explain in the car," Ulrich repeated, then took up his stride again, leaving Johnny to scuttle after him.

"Dude, come on, you can't be serious." Johnny finally caught up to Ulrich and was matching him stride for stride. "There is no way you can expect me to believe that the reason you need my help is because the world is going to end. This is a joke, right? I mean, you know how I am. Can't stay serious for one second. There's no way you can expect me to help save the world."

"Let's wait until we get to the car, Johnny. I'll explain everything there."

"Why can't you explain it now? I'd like to know what I'm getting myself into before I leave the safety of an airport."

Ulrich spun and grabbed Johnny's arm. "Listen to me, Johnny," he whispered, keeping his voice so low it was more a hiss than anything, "this can't be discussed in a public place. People will panic, call the police, and make this even a bigger mess than it already is." Ulrich let go of Johnny's arm, and Johnny was watching Ulrich with wary eyes. "The reason I asked you to come here is the same reason why I left France all those years ago."

"I thought you came to play soccer," Johnny muttered. Ulrich had started walking again, and Johnny scrambled to keep up. "You said you came to play soccer."

"That was my original plan, yes," Ulrich said. "But the longer I was out of Kadic, the more I realized the reason I applied the second time around was to escape Xana."

"Who's Xana?"

"The reason I called you here." Johnny thought about this, confused. He was so lost in thought he didn't realize when Ulrich stopped and ended up walking right into the car.

"Oww, that freaking hurt!"

"Watch where you're going," Ulrich chuckled. "Yumi'll kill me if her cars all scratched up when I bring it back."

"Who's Yumi?" Johnny asked. "What happened to Kailey?" Ulrich's face grew dark as he slid into the driver's seat. Johnny jumped into the passenger seat and watched Ulrich's face as he struggled with something. But just as Ulrich opened his mouth to answer, his phone rang.

"Yes, Jeremie," Ulrich answered with barely a glance to his caller's id. Johnny watched as Ulrich chewed his lip anxiously about something. "Are you sure? I mean, this isn't some trap, is it? ... No, of course not. We'll be there as soon as we can."

Ulrich slipped his phone back into his pocket, sighed, then looked at Johnny. "Xana's on the prowl. We need to make a stop on the way to the factory."

"What's at the factory?" Johnny asked. Ulrich didn't answer right away, instead choosing to put the car in reserve and leave the parking space. Once they started going, however, he said, "Where this whole mess started," and preceded to tell Johnny everything.

Johnny sat in shock when Ulrich was done, looking out the window at the French landscape, trying to make sense out of everything Ulrich had just said. Turning to Ulrich, Johnny opened his mouth and expressed his entire sentiments in three words: "You're shitting me!"


	24. Chapter 24

"This isn't a joke, Johnny." Ulrich maneuvered the car down an alley not far from Rue de Luc. Johnny just sat there, the shock still evident on his face.

"I thought you left France to play soccer?"

Ulrich closed his eyes and counted to ten. Yelling or physically threatening Johnny wasn't going to work, and Ulrich was running out of time. But Johnny seemed stuck on the fact that Ulrich lied about why he left France.

"It was as much to play soccer as it was to escape Xana." Ulrich opened his eyes and turned to look at Johnny. The look Johnny gave back was hollow and confused.

"Why am I here?"

"Xana has kidnapped Aelita, trapped Yumi in Lyoko, and sent Odd and Kailey to the hospital," Ulrich slowly said. "Jeremie thinks he found where Xana is holding Aelita, but we need more than two people to get her, and we only have two people able to help us right now."  
"So, why am I here?" Ulrich swore he heard a few of his teeth crack as he ground them together. He knew there was a lot of information thrown at Johnny at once, but it didn't seem too terribly hard to understand.

"You are here, Johnny, because we need another Lyoko warrior, and you are the only person we could think off at the moment." Johnny slumped into his seat with his eyes closed. Ulrich parked the car and turned to his friend. "Johnny, I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't think you could handle it. But we need help, and Xana has essentially eliminated everyone here who can help us." Johnny still sat there, and Ulrich sighed. "Let's go." Ulrich got out of the car, and Johnny reluctantly followed.

"Where are we going, Ulrich?"

"I need to show you what Xana is willing to do to this world, what he might end up doing to the entire world, if you don't help us." Ulrich strode towards the remnants of Rue du Lac, Johnny close behind him. "Kailey didn't entirely understand the risk of what Xana is capable of, I didn't make it clear to her, and now she's in the hospital because of it. We can't afford to make that mistake again."

Johnny trotted along beside Ulrich, lost in thought about everything that was just told to him. Ulrich stared at the police line in front of them. The connection he had forged with Johnny at school was lost, all the lies he told Johnny to keep him safe just stood in the way. There was a lot of reparations Ulrich would have to do for Johnny and Kailey when this mess was over, but they needed to survive this mess first.

"What the hell happened here?" Johnny had noticed the burnt down section of the street, and Ulrich stopped to let him ogle. Ulrich glanced around to make sure there weren't any bystanders or authority figures close enough to overhear him before turning his attention to Johnny's question.

"Xana decided to attack Kailey directly. We don't know if he was trying to use her to get to me, or whether he was attacking her for some other reason. All we know is he tried to kill her, and he didn't care how many others were caught in the crossfire." Johnny continued to stare at the remains of the buildings and the smoldering ruins. Ulrich turned back to where he parked the car. "We need to go, Johnny. Right now, Jeremie's all alone in the factory. If Xana decides to take him out, we're screwed." Johnny nodded his head, but he followed Ulrich to the car and remained quiet the rest of the way to the factory.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"I honestly have no clue where this mystery sector is, Jeremie, and are you any closer to getting me out of Lyoko?" Yumi paused outside of another transport tower and scanned the area. She had not come across a single monster in the entirety of her search, and it was concerning her. Xana should have sent something her way by now, especially if it was his doing that caused her to be trapped in Lyoko.

"I have an idea of how to get you out, Yumi, but its taking longer to configure this program than I thought." Yumi heard some furious typing in the background. "I think what happened is some code that got left over from Kailey's transformation got encoded in your program, and I can't devirtualize you until I either cancel out that code or reconfigure the scanners to recognize that new code as part of you."

Yumi stopped short of entering the transport tower. "Can you repeat that so I can understand?"

"The weird phenomenon that caused Kailey to pass out in Lyoko seems to have affected you as well. I'm working to fix it as we speak."

Yumi stood there in shock. The more she thought about it, the more Odd's ramblings about Kailey being the key to shutting down Lyoko started to make sense. If random codes brought about by her virtualization was causing this many problems by accident, what could they do if controlled and used to target Xana?

"Jeremie, I'm moving back to the sector where I felt the energy anomaly. I'm going to focus on finding Aelita for now." Yumi didn't hear anything, so she entered the transport tower. As soon as she left the tower, though, she heard Jeremie's voice.

"I'm sorry, Jeremie, I didn't hear you. What did you say?"

"Ulrich's here with his friend." Yumi shuddered. The last thing she felt they needed was another Lyoko warrior, but Jeremie felt it was a good idea, and Yumi honestly didn't think Odd or Kailey would be up to helping them any time soon.

"So, what are we going to do with them?"

"I'm sending Ulrich in to help you search. Then I'm going to take a break from fixing your program to write a program to get Johnny into Lyoko, and the three of you are going to stay there until you find Aelita or that mystery sector."

"Sounds like fun." Yumi stopped and waited. Soon enough, she heard the sounds of virtualization and watched Ulrich appear in his Lyoko form. As soon as he dropped, Yumi pointed to the east. "That's where I felt an energy anomaly that could possibly lead us to Aelita."

"Then that's where we'll start as soon as Johnny joins us," Ulrich said, walking to where Yumi stood. "Hopefully we'll find it before Xana-" A laser hit Ulrich in the shoulder, cutting him off.

"I think Xana's found out what we're up to," Yumi said grimly. She took out her fan. "Let's get this over with before Johnny gets here."

Ulrich drew his sword and turned to face the Krabs. 'This feels just like old times,' he thought, looking sidelong at Yumi. Yumi glanced back, and then they charged the monsters down.


	25. Chapter 25

**I was asked to write a recap, since it has been so long since I last updated (last chapter, not this chapter), so I will write a really brief recap of what has happened up to this point.**

_Recap:_

Ulrich had left the gang and transfered to a sports school in America. Naturally, he made new friends, and tried to forget everything involving Xana. One day, he received a call of help from Aelita, the only person who had accepted Ulrich's decision to leave while Xana was still active. Xana had grown a lot stronger than anyone had expected, and Odd was in the hospital, dying from a horrible Xana attack. Ulrich and his girlfriend, Kailey, grabbed the next plane they could to France.

Ulrich and Kailey had barely been in France a few hours when Xana attacked again, this time kidnapping Aelita and almost harming Kailey. Ulrich was forced to tell Kailey the truth, and Jeremie wrote up a program for her to become a Lyoko warrior. While performing a recon mission, Kailey became really ill in Lyoko, forcing Jeremie to pull her out and leaving a lot of unanswered questions, as well as some unknown code. When Ulrich and Kailey left the factory to see if Xana was doing anything, another friend of Ulrich's, Johnny called. Kailey became furious with Ulrich, thinking he had lied to her, when Ulrich told Johnny a blatant lie about what was going on. She left Ulrich, who headed to the factory to see what Jeremie had found out about the code, and went back to their hotel.

While Kailey was at the hotel, Xana attacked her directly, burning down the hotel and the entire street. Kailey had managed to escape and was heading to the factory to warn the others when Yumi and Ulrich found her. Ulrich forced her to go to the hospital because she was badly burnt, and while there, he paid Odd a visit. Odd told Ulrich that Kailey was the means to find the hidden sector where the hidden tower was before whatever Xana did to him forced him into unconsciousness.

Ulrich, Jeremie and Yumi returned to the factory, and Yumi and Ulrich entered Lyoko to try and find any clues of the hidden sector or Aelita's prison. While searching, Kailey was having some weird dreams, prompting the doctors to call Ulrich and making Jeremie pull Ulrich out of Lyoko. Jeremie had tried to pull Yumi out as well, but she was stuck in Lyoko. Ulrich went off to see what the doctors had to say while Jeremie got to work trying to figure out why he couldn't devirtualize Yumi.

Yumi found a weird energy anomaly in the forest sector that could lead to where Aelita was, and Jeremie figured out the reason Yumi was stuck was because of the odd codes left behind after Kailey's virtualization. Jeremie set to work on fixing these codes, and both he and Ulrich agreed they needed another Lyoko warrior. Ulrich made a call to America and had Johnny fly in on the next available flight.

* * *

"You might want to hurry up with those monsters, Johnny's program is almost written."

"We're doing the best we can, Jeremie," Yumi called back. She threw her fans once again, taking out two monsters that were advancing on her and Ulrich, but four more quickly filled their place. Ulrich darted in and out of the monsters ranks, doing damage where he could, but those monsters were also quickly replaced.

"I don't think Xana likes what we're up to," Ulrich said, falling back to where Yumi was. He quickly brought up his sword to block a laser attack, but got struck from another one from behind. "Damn it!" Bending over to make himself a smaller target, Ulrich focused and made copies of himself. Charging the enemy that was now behind them, Ulrich and his copies took the monsters out and quickly turned their attention back to helping Yumi.

"I would prefer not to drop Johnny into the middle of a battle with Xana's monsters," Jeremie said. "Would you two hurry up and dispose of them already."

"Whatever happened to learning under fire?" Yumi gasped. She had just gotten hit with a barrage of lasers from some Hornets that joined the fight, and she was beginning to feel the effects of this fight.

"When we're limited on warriors enough as it is, I would prefer not to lose a warrior before they even begin." In the background, Yumi and Ulrich could hear a muffled, "Wait, what!"

"Well, an extra hand would be helpful in getting rid of these monsters." Ulrich barely managed to dodge a blast from one of the Krabs, finding himself struggling to balance on the edge of the path. He quickly regained his balance, only to jump out of the way of another laser.

Yumi looked over to where Ulrich was. Even though he had been gone for so long, he was fighting like he did when they found themselves facing Xana every day. Yumi turned her attention to the Hornets, dispatching them quickly with her two fans. For now, all that was left were the ground monsters, and they were causing more than enough trouble.

"How good are your telekinetic skills?" Ulrich asked, rolling in next to Yumi to avoid another barrage of lasers. Yumi blocked another wave of lasers and looked at Ulrich incredulously.

"I haven't been able to focus enough to use telekinesis since you left to go to America." Ulrich winced. Although things had been better slowly between the two of them since Yumi helped Ulrich attempt to rescue Kailey from the fire, there was still tension and resentment in Yumi's statement.

"Well, now's a good time to try again." Ulrich ducked another laser attack and took out the Krab who shot it, only to quickly return to Yumi's side once more. "See if you can dump these monsters off the ledge."

Yumi stared at Ulrich in shock for a few seconds before turning her attention once more to the monsters. When Ulrich was with the gang, Yumi could only move one monster, at best. But she was now years out of practice, and Ulrich was asking her to attempt to move multiple monsters.

'There's nothing to lose,' Yumi thought as she put her fans away. 'If I fail, we're still in the exact same position we were in before I tried. If I somehow pull this off, then we might actually succeed.' The Krabs seemed to know what Yumi was about to do, and their attention turned to her. Ulrich, though, got between them, blocking each shot and trying to give Yumi time.

Yumi focused her energy on the first Krab, and the sight of Ulrich buying time for her brought a flood of emotions. All the good memories of the days before Ulrich became a jerk and abandoned them, all the pain at being left behind and in the dark. Yumi's energy surged and she found herself controlling the first Krab with little effort. Carefully, Yumi cast her mind farther, grabbing hold of as many other monsters she could. When she felt her energy start to waver, she changed her tactics from grabbing monsters to dragging monsters. Slowly, the crowd of monsters in front of her and Ulrich found themselves closer and closer to the edge.

Yumi felt her hold on the monsters weaken, and the monsters began to fight her hold even more. She heard the zing of the lasers, but she never felt the bite. Looking up momentarily, she saw Ulrich still standing in front of her, his sword flashing as he tried to stop the lasers from reaching her. In the distance, almost as if it was a dream, she heard Jeremie's voice encouraging her, trying to keep her focused on the task of dropping Xana's monsters over the edge. The energy anomaly she felt earlier was back, almost exactly where she was kneeling, and Yumi felt a surge of anger at all Xana had done recently. The anger reinforced her grasp of the monsters, and Yumi gave one last mental push. All the monsters she had held with her telekinesis tumbled over the edge, leaving behind a handful of stragglers.

Ulrich broke away from defending Yumi, taking the momentary confusion of what just happened as a chance to destroy the last of the Krabs. With the last of the Krabs gone, Ulrich heard the beginning of a virtualization happen, and he turned to Yumi.

"Are you feeling ok?" Yumi looked up from where she slumped to see Ulrich leaning over her, hand out to help her up.

"I've been better." Yumi accepted Ulrich's help. She doubted she could stand on her own, the amount of energy she used to control Xana's monsters was incredible. Yumi looked around once she was on her feet. All signs of battle were gone. All that was left was her and Ulrich, and a very scared and confused looking blond guy wearing black pants and a cream colored wrap around shirt.

"Yumi, this is my friend and teammate from school, Johnny Powers." Yumi just nodded at him. Her energy levels were severely low. She needed to get out of Lyoko and get some sleep before she would be any use in freeing Aelita.

"Jeremie, how close are you to figuring out how to devirtualize me?" Yumi called out. She was still hanging on to Ulrich to stand, and she felt embarrassed by it, especially because it was showing a weakness to somebody new, somebody Yumi couldn't trust yet.

"I have something that should work almost done, but I need you to stay in Lyoko and find where Xana's hiding Aelita."

"Jeremie, I'm as concerned about finding Aelita as you are, but I really am in no shape to help break Aelita out of a prison, let alone search for her right now." Yumi tried to stand up on her own, but ended up collapsing back into Ulrich. Ulrich just held her tight, keeping Yumi firmly on her feet while Johnny looked at his surroundings in wide-eyed wonder.

"Yumi, I'm sure you're fine—"

"Damn it, Jeremie, just pull her out!" Yumi was surprised by Ulrich's outburst. He had always been so calm in the face of what Xana would do. 'It's Kailey,' Yumi realized. 'It's Kailey, and bringing Johnny here, as well as blaming himself for letting Xana get this strong.'

"Ulrich," Yumi whispered, but she wasn't sure Ulrich heard her over Jeremie consenting to pull Yumi out. Soon enough, Yumi felt the familiar sensation of devirtualization. She closed her eyes, hoping she'd open them in the factory.

Johnny looked at the fading girl Ulrich was holding in shock. When she completely disappeared, Johnny jumped.

"What happened to her? She's not dead, is she?" Johnny looked around him again. Seeing all those blimps on Jeremie's computer screen and hearing everything that was going on during the fight made Johnny realize the type of trouble he was now involved in.

"Yumi's fine." Johnny winced. Ulrich sounded exasperated, but that's pretty much how he sounded since Johnny's plane landed. Now Johnny could understand why. Everything that has happened, from seeing the remains of the horrible fire to watching Yumi fade away, has shown Johnny a side of Ulrich he didn't know existed.

"If she's fine, where did she go? Will I disappear like that?"

"If you're lucky, you will." Ulrich looked at his friend. "Johnny, I know you're still trying to understand everything that's going on, but what happened to Yumi is completely normal, and a good thing. Jeremie devirtualized her, which means she is currently in the factory, resting and getting ready for the next round."

Johnny nodded and looked around him once more. He heard Ulrich sigh, and he snapped his attention back to Ulrich really fast. Ulrich didn't say anything, instead walking to seemingly inconspicuous spot and standing there.

"Jeremie, are you getting any odd readings from where I'm standing?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary, it seems like every other spot in the forest region." Johnny heard typing come from the sky, but he kept his focus on Ulrich. If the nonexistent typing didn't bother Ulrich, Johnny wouldn't let it bother him. Ulrich chose Johnny to come to France to help because, for some unknown reason, Ulrich trusted Johnny would be able to help. Johnny didn't understand what was going on yet, but he wasn't going to let his friend and former teammate down.

Ulrich moved a few feet from where he had stood and walked around the spot before returning to it. There was definitely some sort of energy anomaly going on there, but Jeremie's scanners weren't picking it up for some unknown reason.

"Hey, Johnny, come here. Does this spot feel odd to you?" Johnny jumped from whatever thought he was engrossed in and headed over to where Ulrich was. As Johnny entered the area where the energy anomaly was felt, he jumped. Ulrich watched as Johnny retreated, only to return the same spot with a confused look on his face.

"What the hell was that?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Ulrich shrugged and cast a glance around them. There were no signs of anymore of Xana's monsters for the minute, and Ulrich intended to use as much of this time as possible. "The best I can describe it is some sort of energy anomaly that could possibly be feeding a prison that had Aelita, but I don't see anything." Johnny looked around real quick as well. He had no idea what this place was supposed to look like, but there was something about it he didn't like, almost as if there was a haze in one area.

"Ulrich, what's this place usually look like?" Ulrich looked at Johnny in confusion, and Johnny hesitated before continuing. "I mean, is there usually this haze stuff here, or what?"

"What haze?" Ulrich looked around once more, and Johnny could see confusion on Ulrich's face. "I don't see any—" Ulrich stopped abruptly midsentence. He couldn't see the haze, Jeremie's programs couldn't detect the anomaly. It required somebody actually inside the program to feel the energy, because Xana could not disguise that. What he could do, though, was disguise what the energy was connected to, and somehow attach a code sequence to it to keep the Lyoko warriors Xana knew from seeing the disguise.

"Jeremie, I think we've found Aelita!"


End file.
